


Vamp-torious

by Imherefinally



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, F/F, Vampire Hunters, Werewolves, discussions of rape, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23851282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imherefinally/pseuds/Imherefinally
Summary: Hollywood arts has a new problem: vampires. Tori, Jade, Cat, and Andre have to choose as the world around them fragments into Vampires and vampire hunters. Quiet strain builds up in each of them until... well, they just might discover feelings they didn't know they had. ----- final chapter coming in November (i WILL do it)
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 14
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

Tori woke up to rapping at her window. “Jade?” tori rubbed her eyes “is that you?”  
“can I come in?”  
“what are you doing here?”  
“can I come in?”  
“yeah… sure”

the figure in the window vanished just as Tori started to get out of bed. 

“you shouldn’t go out at night” the voice benhind her said.  
she almost screamed but it felt like a dream. Slow and calm, she turned around.

“Jade?”

rubbing her eyes didn’t make the room any clearer. It didn’t make her feel more awake. The night air, the window was open, felt cool on her skin, blanketing them both and cooling the tense atmosphere. 

“don’t go out at night. not anymore.”

Coming into focus was her friend, she felt comfortable calling her that now. Jade stood in a black outfit, platform shoes, only notable because it wasn’t pajamas. Getting a better look, Tori could see she was tapping her foot, the carpet absorbing the soft but consistent noise. Her shoulders were tense, and she swore she could see white knuckles gripping her arms. 

Another sound came into focus. Breathing. Tori’s breaths were calm and slow, sleep keeping its unshakable grip on her anxiety. Jade was breathing quickly, shallowly. Almost hyperventilating. 

“what’s wrong?”  
“this was stupid, I-“  
“Jade what’s wrong?”

Alarm was starting to take over. Washing over her like a glass of cold water she-

woke up the next morning. The dream was already fading and hurried on by the alarm sounding off right next to her. It’d been going off for what… twenty minutes?!

Sleep came off easily that morning. In her rush Tori bypassed coffee, her daily argument with Trina, and even a couple of her books, which she discovered after arriving. 

Late for first period, she slid into an empty seat near the back of the class. 

“Tori!” Cat swiveled around in her chair, “you’re late”  
“I am, did I miss anything?”  
“I thought so too! So I asked Sinjin and he said that I didn’t miss anything so that means you didn’t miss anything!”  
“Wait- were you late too?”  
“Yeah! Jade showed up at my house and we had a sleepover!”  
“Oh,” Cat must be on an unparalleled friendship level with Jade, “cool. Did you guys have fun?”

“Quiet in the back!”

“Oops.”  
“Shhhhhhhhhh!”  
“Cat!”

Tori remembered her dream from last night, it must have been a dream if Jade was at Cat’s. A little pang of jealousy hit her as she realized how far she had to go with Jade. Sometimes their friendship felt like climbing a big angry mountain. One that didn’t want you to reach the top but never wanted you to really leave. So like, a mountain killing all the climbers and holding their ghosts….

“Tori.”  
“Yes?” she snapped out of her daydream just as class ended.  
“I think we did miss something.”  
“Oh, what is it?”  
“He assigned some kind of group project and I guess we’re the last group!”  
“Oh yay! What’s the project?”  
“It’s a performance! We have to write something and sing it.”  
“Well, neither of us are good writers…”  
“You can come over! You can come over to my house and we’ll work on it there! Together!”

Cat grabbed Tori’s hand and started to lightly bounce. 

“It’ll be so much fun! We can be in the same room and not alone from each other and I’ll yell if I fall down in the kitchen!”  
“Yeah, what?”  
“Yeah if I fall in the kitchen or I get murdered in my house you can some and saaaaave meeeee!”  
“Should I be like, alarmed about this?”  
“No it’s just a normal daaaaaaay in the Valentine house hoooooold!”  
“O…kay…”  
“Let’s get lunch!”

It wasn’t completely out of Cat’s ramblings to say something like that. Her brother did plenty of weird and violent-

“Is your brother going to be home?”  
“No, he’s on a business trip.”  
“Cool.”

No brother. Good.

The lunch table was three-quarters packed, as always, but this time Trina was there. Andre, Beck, and Robbie were chatting pretty easily with her. Jade abstained. 

“What’s up sis? My sista! Sis!” Trina called across the blacktop.  
“What’s going on?”  
“I got the part!”  
“What part?”  
“ALL of them!”

Andre spoke up, “the class play, uhh, Super Suzanne.”

“Yeah yeah that one.”  
“Cool. The class play?”  
“The very one.”  
“That’s… cool! That’s very cool.”

Tori was just about to audition for Super Suzanne, Jade and Cat too. Why Jade wasn’t tearing into Trina was beyond her. Some kind of karmic backlash must be in the works. That, or Jade suddenly got struck by joy and forgiveness which, judging by the grumpy look, hadn’t happened. 

“What’s got your peach?”  
“My peach?”  
“Yeah, your goat, your got, whatever,” Tori started shuffling around her backpack for change.  
“I had a bad night,” Jade looked around her, adjusted her sunglasses, “I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Ok grumpy bug.”  
“And what’s got you so energized might I ask?”  
“I don’t know-“ the lunch money she thought she had was missing, “ugh.”  
“What’s got your peach?”   
“No money. I’ll just eat when I get home.”  
Jade cast another furtive glance around her, “here,” and passed a few dollars under the table.   
“What about you?”  
“Already ate.”  
“Well… thanks!”

As Tori left to get lunch, Cat scooted closer to Jade.

“So you really don’t want to talk about it?”  
Jade glanced around the table, “not now. I’ll tell you later.”  
“Well you can come back to my place but Tori’s gonna be there-“  
“What-“ she hushed herself, “why?”  
“We’re working on a project.”  
“It can’t wait?”  
“You can wait.”  
“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

By the time Tori got back Trina had left, taking the boys with her.

“Popular girl, I guess.”  
“Yeah no kidding,” Jade didn’t bother to hide the bite in her comment.  
“She got Suzy?”  
“Yep.”  
“Didn’t she get another role last week?”  
“Yep,” Jade’s foot tapping became increasingly noticeable.  
“You mad about it?”  
“What do you think, Vega? First I have to compete with you now your sister? I never thought of her as a threat.”  
“Yeah, me neither.” 

When she got to Cat’s house it was already starting to get a bit late. They were planning to sleep over, actually. 

They got out the sleeping bags and pillows and a keyboard to play on. 

“What kind of song should we write?”  
“Hmmmmmm,” Cat hit a few keys, grimacing, she hit a few more, “hmmm, hmmmm, hmmmmmmmmm…”  
“A romantic one?”  
“Oo Tori are you in loooove?”  
Tori rolled her eyes, “let’s not talk about it.”  
“Okay! What do you think about this?”  
“Whoah, sounds like a creepy zombie movie type… thing.”  
“Cool right! I thought halloween is close-“  
“It’s like, May-“  
“And it would be fun to do a spooky tune.”  
“Uh, shure!” Tori scribbled some notes down, “any words for this spooky tune?”  
“Sure!” she hit a jazz chord, “I’m stressed!”  
“Ha ha, me too-“  
“And I can’t talk about it!” she continued with the sing song-y tune, notes getting progressively higher, “and wow, it’s crazy that I can’t talk! About it! But it’s really” OCTAVE DROP “scaryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.”  
“Cat are you ok?”  
“Yeah why.”

Tori reached over and changed the setting to ‘organ’, hit a note and matched the pitch, “is this how we talk now?”  
Cat switched it to ‘synth’ “I guess sooooooooooooooooo”  
Tori turned it to ‘guitar’, “are you saaaaafe? Do you need to live, in, my, houseee?”  
Cat turned it to ‘choir’, “I don’t think- ooh!” hit a few more keys, “Ha ha ha!”  
Tori turned the keyboard off, “are you ok?”  
“What?”  
“You just- uuuughhhhh, let’s just do the project.” 

Her attempts to ask later were thwarted, as Cat seemed to forget all about whatever she said. They finished about half of the ‘spooky tune’ which had a nice chord progression, to be fair. The lyrics were… questionable. It was more of an elaboration on Monster Mash than anything else.

Getting to sleep was easy enough. Cat seemed at ease in her home, which wasn’t always the case. Her friends speculated about Cat’s life but no one could really grasp the situation, and Cat never felt like clearing it up. It caused Tori some concern, but she always seemed ok. Not now though. She slept easily but lightly, waking up with Tori at any bump in the night. 

The morning was easy and slipped quickly into the afternoon. The rest of ’S'monster Smash’ got written, sleeping bags were rolled up, and Tori left at around two. Cat didn’t want her to go, but that’s always true. It was bright and sunny, and Tori had to squint as she stepped outside. She could feel the hot concrete on her shoes, and, shuffling the bag against her back, set off to get some coffee and a late breakfast. 

Cat paced the halls of her own home, hoping that the night would never come. 

While both her friends wasted the day, Jade got to work. Sunglasses, parasols at the mall, a session of deep history at the library, and staking out the Vegas house. Nothing interesting… yet. She had time. 

By the time Tori got to bed it was late. She saw Trina “go to bed” but she was definitely still up. Her parents had gone to bed, they were leaving the next morning for a few weeks actually. A ‘renewed extended honeymoon’ is what they called it. She thought they suddenly realized that their kids could take care of themselves. 

She was in another nightmare, she could just feel it. She’s sitting in an unfamiliar bathroom, and the shower is running. A prick of dread runs down her spine as she looks around, and she jumps. There’s a figure in the shower. Covered by the curtain it’s almost completely obscured, and Tori wondered if it was her until it started to sing. 

Beautiful isn’t the right word it was… enchanting, in the way that nightmares are. Steam rolled over the top of the curtain but she was chilled to her core, as she turns to get a better look at the curtain her shoe squeaks. The song stops. In the echo of the melody she can almost make out a familiar voice, almost. 

The shower stopped suddenly, as suddenly as the voice. No more figure behind the curtain, a red streak drips down the wall closest to her. She reaches out to move the curtain, and as she does a stain, watery and pink, works its way down her arm. 

She can’t stand it any more. Tori throws the curtain open and doubles over in shock. A red pink concoction, smelling strongly of metal and death, slowly circles the drain.

She woke with a scream, clutching the blanket around her and scrambling for the light switch. Before she can get there-

“Are you ok?”

Another scream, another flailing attack in all directions. Tori connects with the floor just as she recognizes the voice from the shower and now her bedroom, Jade. She stands up wielding some sort of stick, on further examination it’s a ballpoint pen. The voice and the figure were gone, and a draft spilled in through the window. She slams it shut. 

Sunday came and went without incident.

As soon as Tori got to school Monday she was met with a bubbly Cat, who she pushed past to get to Jade. 

“STOP haunting my dreams.”  
“Well good morning to you too, Vega.”  
“I don’t know what’s going on but you’re too spooky for this to be a coincidence so stop haunting my dreams.”  
“I show up in your dreams?”  
“Yes. And it bothers me.”  
“It, bothers, you?”  
“Yeah.”

Jade smirked. Flipped her hair and took a sip of her coffee, “No.”  
“No?”  
“No.”

The bell rang, cutting them off. Jade flashed a toothy smile, clearly enjoying whatever was going on. 

Tori spent class in a spiral of doubt. Whatever was going on seemed to be all in her head. No evidence besides her dreams and a bad feeling. And whatever was happening to Cat, but again, no evidence. She made a note to talk to Cat later, to check up on her. 

Lunch was strange. The boys had left and without the boys as buffer it quickly devolved into silence. Tori asked Cat,

“Are you doing ok?”  
“Yeah why do you ask?”  
“You were kind of freaking out last time I came over.”  
“Oh that’s been,” she shot a glance at Jade, who had been glaring, “resolved I guess.”  
“That’s good. You’re safe?”  
Another glare from Jade cut off the alarmed look in Cat’s eye, “yeah definitely. I mean who wouldn’t be it’s not like there’s-“

“I think,” Jade interjected, “that we need to find out what happened to our boys.”  
“Our?”  
“Yes our.”  
“Wouldn’t you know where Beck is?” Tori filed away that strange interaction to investigate later.   
“No.”  
“Why not?”  
“We’re not-“ she sighed and squirmed in her seat, “we broke up.”  
“Aww, I’m sorry, do you want to-“  
“I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“I’m sorry, anyway.”  
“Thanks.”

Jade leaned over and took a bottle of sunscreen from her backpack.

“You never wear sunscreen.”  
“Well I’m pale as shit and the sun wants me dead, so,” she motioned to the bottle and let the gross squirt noise fill the uncomfortable silence.   
“That’s a lot.”  
“Does the sun give up?”  
“Apparently not,” Tori said as she gestured to Jade’s shades and sunhat.  
Jade pulled her shades down and rolled her eyes. 

When the bell rang Tori pulled Cat aside.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”  
“Yeah! I’m fine as a peach on Sunday.”  
“Peach? Ok um, Jade isn’t hurting you, is she?”  
“No! No she would never- she’s not hurting me.”  
“Is she making you keep a secret?”  
“Um… La la la! Ha ha I’m so silly! I say silly things and do a little dance, look at me!”  
“Cat this is serious!”  
“I am serious!” a waver of distress broke through Cat’s voice.   
“It’s ok, it’s ok. Just, reach out, ok? If something goes wrong?”  
“I will, don’t worry.”  
“Ok.”

Another after school session of banging out S’monster smash went off without a hitch. While Tori had her doubts Cat assured her it was a “s’bop” which is “a bop with an s in front of it.”

Tonight Tori had a plan. A plan that was both foolproof and ingenious. To put it in motion, all she had to do was scream. And at about three in the morning, she did.

Jade was staking out the Vegas house for the fourth night in a row, catching some movements, missing others. Every time she heard Tori shout she just couldn’t help it, she had to know that she was ok. 

Tonight another scream, predictable as it seems she may have accidentally cursed her with nightmares, she was new to this ok? She rushed over, again, effortlessly scaling the trellis and slipping through her open window. What she did not expect happened as soon as her feet hit the floor.

Or at least what she assumed was the floor. It was layers and layers of plastic wrap, simultaneously arresting her momentum and entangling her in an endless clear prison. 

“YOU!”  
“VEGA!?”

Tori stood above Jade, poised to strike with a knife.

“DON’T *FUCKING* MOVE.”  
“Yes! Sure! Okay!”  
“Really?”  
“Well there’s not much I can DO now is there?!”  
“Ha ha, yeah,” she held the knife out, inches from Jade’s face, “what are you doing, Jade? What are you doing in my room? Why are you HAUNTING my DREAMS?!?”

After a second of catching her breath Jade tested her bonds. Practically nothing compared with her new strength; it was the shock that stopped her. What stopped her after was the knowledge that she fucked up real bad, and couldn’t just vaporize from this one. 

“Okay that last one? I have no idea really,” she took a breath, quietly tearing the plastic wrap, “I’m in here because I heard you yell and I was…”  
“What?”  
“Outside.”  
“You were- you’ve been- Have you been stalking me?!”  
“No! I’ve been,” a shout as she rips through a sheet of plastic entrapment, “protecting you!”  
“Protecting-“  
A quick movement, little more than a blur in the corner of her eye, and Jade was on her feet, and in another she was by her ear,  
“Did you know there are vampires around, Vega?”  
“Vampires?” her voice was high and quiet, the alarm and shock of her nightmares seeping into reality.   
“Yes,” her breath carried the scent of blood.  
“Oh. Well then. I-“  
“Don’t. I don’t know much more than you do except,” she took a moment to listen carefully, “look out, ok? And I meant it, don’t leave your room at night.”  
“I knew it! I knew you knew you were haunting me.”  
“PROTECTING you.”  
“Whatever, protecting. Why me? Why- you’re, oh my god,” Tori retreated to her bed and sat on the edge, face in her hands, “you’re dead, aren’t you?”  
“I guess technically,” Jade sauntered over and sat next to her, “I’m still here though. I’m still real.”  
“Are you? This isn’t a dream?”  
“Not anymore.”

They sat in silence for a bit. Tori’s mind buzzed with questions, but that buzz faded into background static that consumed her thoughts. Jade sat, cold and hungry, knowing that she would have to leave soon. To eat, to rest, whichever seemed more urgent. 

“Cat knows?”  
“Yeah. She knows.”  
“Where do you… get your blood?”  
“Her brother.”  
“Ah.” and after a pause, “is there anyone… I should look out for?”  
“At least one more. I can’t tell you. I think it’s just me and Trina-“ Jade slapped a hand to her mouth.  
Tori whisper-screamed, “Trina?! Trina’s a vampire?!”  
“Fuck!”  
“Oh my god we have to like-“  
“Do what Vega? Call the cops? She has the same source I do, so no one’s disappearing. Oh and for some reason she’s stronger.”  
“Ummmm, did you… fight her? How do you know?”  
“I don’t want to talk about it. Just watch out.”  
“I will.”

Jade stood up. 

“Where are you going?”  
“I have to get some sleep, and the sun, you know.”  
“Oh my god, you haven’t been sleeping at all?”  
The genuine conern shocked her, “A- a little. A few hours here and there. I’m- I’m really tired in the daytime.”  
“I’ll cover for you, um, if you need a nap.”  
“…Thanks V- Tori. Thanks.”

She slipped out as fast as she came in. Tori was left sitting on the edge of her bed, tired and wired, chilled by the breeze of Jade’s quick escape.

When she made coffee in the morning she tried her hardest not to be suspicious around Trina. Still, she watched her movements, they were effortless. When, on a normal morning, she would struggle to lift the garage door, now she lifted it with ease. Normally she would need one cup of coffee, now she needed three. Normally she would needle Tori about what she wore, what she ate, not today.

She paid little attention to Tori, preferring to get on with her day instead. Her attention seemed to be elsewhere, like she was playing chess while Tori was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

She seemed… happier, more sure of herself. Calm, even. 

“So uh,” Tori coughed up, “congrats on that part?”  
“Which one?”  
“Oh I guess, both of them!”  
“Three! Cross your fingers I have another audition today.”  
“I thought the school was only doing two this year.”  
“Yep! I’m auditioning for that theatre up the street!”  
“I thought they didn’t take students?”  
“Well I guess I’m just too talented to pass up.”  
“Good luck, then.”  
“Thanks!”

Trina grabbed her sunglasses, sunscreen, and a big brimmed hat, “Oh! Before I forget, I’m bringing Beck home tonight.”  
“You! You and Beck?”  
“Yep! After Jade broke up with him he was so sad,” Trina pouted, “but I think he’ll feel better with me.”  
“She broke up with him?”  
“Ohhhh yeah. She didn’t tell you?”  
“Not that part.”  
“Well, sometimes our friends don’t tell us everything. Is she even your friend?”  
“Well, yeah.”  
“Suit yourself.”

With that Trina walked out the door. Tori didn’t see her, Beck, or Robbie all day. She saw Andre though.

He tapped his pen nervously all through class. Whenever the door opened he jumped a little and reached for his backpack. When the bell rang he pulled Tori aside and with an intense look in his eye whispered,

“Do you trust me?”  
“Yes? Andre I trust you more than anything, what’s up?”  
“You know my grandma?”  
“Yes I know of your grandma-“  
“Well she convinced me of something ok, and I’m not crazy, Tori you have to believe me. Do you believe me?”  
“You haven’t… said anything yet!”  
“Ok ok, here we go. There are vampires in here, ok?”  
The fake shock playing across her face deserved an Emmy, maybe two, “Vampires?! This is a little-“  
“Just wait, just wait. I saw one, here,” he pulled out his phone, and pulled up a grainy video. Someone pale and wearing black approaches another stranger. 

“This doesn’t look like anything-“  
“SshhhHhHHHHHhhhhh! Just watch.”

The video showed the two figures talking, then erupting in an argument. The pale figure looked around and knocked down the stranger in one impossibly quick blow. 

“Oh shit.”

Next the pale figure bent down to the stranger,

“Ok maybe they’re just going to help them out!”

and ripped out their throat.

“Oh my god!”  
“Keep your voice down!”

The remainder of the video showed the pale figure feeding on the stranger while blood flowed quickly into frame. 

To prove himself, Andre pulled out two things from his backpack, a blood sprayed shirt and an iron-tipped stake.

“My grandma knows about this kind of stuff, she’s dealt with it before.”  
“You’re grandma’s a vampire hunter!?”  
“Shhh! And yes, she is. Was. The vampires scrambled her mind, or maybe it’s just that she’s actually crazy. Either way, she has all this stuff,” Andre pulled out vials, bolts and even a crossbow, “and she knows how to use it. I know how to use it.”  
“So you’re- you’re going to go hunting vampires?!”  
“No, not hunting, just protecting myself. And my friends. Don’t spread this around, but I’ve got you, ok? I’ve got all our friends.”

There was nothing about the figure that distinguished it from Jade. It wasn’t Trina, definitely.

“Keep your eyes peeled, ok?”  
“Ok, I will.”

Tori couldn’t find Jade quick enough. She spotted her in the hallway, walking a bit sluggishly.

“Jade!”  
“Don’t act like you know me.”  
“Why? Is someone following you?”  
“No I just think you’re getting too chummy.”

She smirked, and Tori could see the dark circles around her eyes. At least she was still having a little fun.

“Thanks. I need to talk to you.”  
“What?”  
“I have to know,” Tori pulled Jade to the side, “did you kill anyone?”  
“No! I told you I get it through Cat’s brother.”  
“But,” she huffed, “that’s what vampires do! You don’t ever, like, the beast within gets the best of you and you don’t remember what you did?”  
“No. I remember everything I do. Don’t you trust me?”  
“You,” Tori looked up and down the hallway, “are dead. You are a dead person. You’ve died.”  
“Yeah and it’s not ideal but I’m not going to kill anyone over it when I don’t have to.”  
“Where do you think Cat’s brother gets it. The blood.”  
“I… don’t know. But it’s not me, it’s- don’t look at me like that. Don’t. Listen, I don’t like this, I didn’t choose those, I don’t want this. But it’s this or I’m gone, okay? And this way I can still…”  
“Still?”  
“Hang around. Whatever. Whatever! I can handle myself just fine, and I know I’m not a killer just because I’m… hemoglobin deficient.”  
Tori took a moment to breathe, “ok. Ok. I believe you. I do. There are, there must be, real killers out there. If you and… you know, the other one, are like this, there must be others, ok? Be safe?”  
“I’ll be fine. Thanks.”  
As they turned to part Tori shouted over her shoulder, “be safe!”  
“I will!”

Class came and went, and Tori and Cat devoted part of lunch to fixing up S’monster Smash. Jade slept through it, somehow. 

That night was one of Trina’s performances. Rather than risk the ire of a somehow particularly strong vampire, Tori bought a ticket. It wasn’t good, her confidence was just about the only thing going for her, but the audience sat with wrapt attention. It was bizarre to watch, Tori split her attention neatly between Trina, the audience, and any available exits. 

Trina gave plenty of nods and waves and kisses to the audience, but in particular her affection was directed up towards the catwalk. Tori craned to see but couldn’t get a good look. After the show she saved the program, complete with all the names of cast and crew. 

She studied it when she got home, but nothing jumped out except for one kid she knew from chemistry class. Jack. He worked on lights along with two other guys named Jarvis and Harper. She did recognize Harper from costume class, actually. 

She texted Andre  
‘who do you think is a vampire?’  
‘not sure yet. looking into some kids at the AV club’  
‘cool’  
‘Beck’s charmed’  
‘what’  
‘they can do that, make you fall in love w them’  
‘fucked up’  
‘yes’  
‘i think i was charmed’  
‘really?’  
‘yeah i dont remember a lot of the past week. it was all like  
a bubblegum haze’  
‘holy shit’  
‘yeah’  
‘how did you snap out of it?’  
‘ritual. my grandma did it.’  
‘can she do that for Beck?’  
‘no. already asked her.’  
‘what’re you going to do?’  
‘not sure. keep you posted’  
‘k’

She dreamt again that night. Instead of fear, she felt calm. Completely calm. She lay on the surface of a dark pool, drifting along. Slowly moved by the currents she reached out a hand and dipped it in. Whatever the pool was made of was warm and comforting. 

She turned her head towards the ripples forming at the other end. She caught a glance at the sky, the stars suffocating against the clotty cloud cover. The ripples formed around one point, then a head, then a body emerged from the epicenter. Jade, soaked in darkness and beaming with starlight, moved toward Tori like a wave. 

Another set of ripples formed around a hand, connected to Jade, drawing itself out of the water. It was made of pale skin, bloodless, and warm only from the water. A chill breeze pulled across her body, and Tori drew into herself on instinct. Jade’s hand brushed the side of her face, and bright unceasing eye contact fixed her in place. She felt safe, though she knew she shouldn’t. She didn’t care.

Jade leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead, leaving behind a black lipstick stain. Tori could feel her heart beating, pushing into the cold body next to her. Again, Jade’s hand brushed against her face, this time to push her head to the side. Without breaking eye contact, she complied. Faster than anything, fangs plunged into her exposed neck, and the quick shock of pain broke the dream and left Tori screaming again.

Nothing came through the window. 

So. Her confrontation did nothing to ease her sleep. Maybe nothing would, now that there were vampires around. She arrived tired to school, not sure who to be afraid of or who to listen too. 

She found it difficult to focus on school work. She got it done, just spent more time on it. It was almost as if she needed to be superhuman to cope with all of these super-humans, not that Jade was faring particularly well. She had fallen asleep in three classes. 

Andre was jumpy. He watched Beck like a hawk, but avoided Trina as best he could. Cat seemed the most normal, but that was a difficult standard even in normal times. She couldn’t tell if someone was about to spring another secret on her, or if someone was going to get hurt.

Badly hurt. All she wanted to do was what everyone else wanted to do; protect her friends. The complication she had to deal with was that she needed to protect them from each other. 

It made sense to talk to Cat. She was always ready to listen, and if she blabbed to anyone else no one would believe her. She never offered up anything useful, but it was nice to confide in a friend that was still normal. She wondered if any of them were going to be normal after this. 

Andre had given her a silver-tipped knife. It made her more nervous to have it, but she promised she’d have it on her at all times from now on. It was only a matter of time before he found out about someone. The question of who he found first would determine everything else. It’s the difference between tearing their friends apart at the seams, maybe even literally, and staying together through… whatever this turned out to be. He had to find the third vampire and he had to find it first. 

Tori made a diagram. On one side were new contacts of Trina’s, on the other side contacts of Jade. She wasn’t so sure how Jade was turned but it was probably after Trina, if she is more powerful. Jade hasn’t killed anyone, and she just assumed that meant no undeadifying either. Trina’s success isn’t visible to everyone, Tori herself, for example. Boys are more friendly around her… but can break out of that haze somehow. Andre didn’t know who charmed him, but what if someone did?

She texted Andre for confirmation that Trina’s latest performances were awful. Wait, shit, he might suspect her-

Okay, no more involving Andre. Trina likes it when boys fight over her, that’s likely what she was setting up. Potential suitors she underlined in red. Too on the nose?

Going back to the cast list and the online yearbook Tori picked out the boys that were her type. Well, the most her type. Now that she had options she assumed she’d be more picky. The only suitable boys were Jack, who worked on the lighting, David, who worked in the booth, and Harvey who worked backstage. Jack sat right in the intersection of suitable boys and boys she was flirting with during the performance. It was an enormous stretch, but it was all she could think of.

Except maybe it was a jealous actress? Dang it. 

Tori kept her eyes peeled at lunch. Jade and Trina wore shades, but so did a lot of people. Jade preferred to sit in the shade, and even then used a lot of sunscreen and a big hat to cover up. No hats, but in one corner of the shade there was a significant sunscreen smell. 

Sinjin, Jack, and a few other tech guys sat together in the darkest corner of the blacktop. From her vague recollection, Jack usually wore sleeveless tanks, even in the winter. Today he was wearing a full shirt, even though it was hot out. 

No confirmation, but a piling on of suspicions. She walked over slowly, trying to conceal her nerves and exude an air of confidence. Jack turned instantly. She struggled not to make eye contact, and instead followed her nose to the source of sunscreen smell. Getting closer and closer, she could tell it was from that table. Then from his side of the table. Then from-

Sinjin. 

Fuck. Maybe Sinjin was a fucking vampire for all she knew. Maybe Jade bit someone. Maybe Trina bit someone else. Maybe there are ten, twenty vampires! And she wouldn’t even know it. She wouldn’t even have a clue.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the foot stuck out in front of her. 

Predictably, she fell. And she was caught with corpse cold arms. Jack, dead as could be, held her with the strength of a pro boxer, no, ten pro boxers. He wasn’t even straining. With one hand taking all her weight he took off his sunglasses, and the world melted around her.

Under a haze of complete joy and relaxation, she mumbled out,

“Heyyyy.”  
“Hey yourself. Are you ok?” Jack set her back on her feet.  
“Yes, yes I’m ok, now,” this was accompanied with a clumsy wink.  
“That’s good. Hey, what’s your name?”  
“Tori…”  
“Well Tori, I’m Jack. And it seems like, well it seems like you’ve fallen for me.”  
She laughed enthusiastically, “strong and funny! You seem like… quite a catch if you don’t mind me saying.”  
“Yeah I guess so. Hey, and this is so spur of the moment I never do things like this, can I have your number?”  
“Yes! Yes oh my god, here,” she reached out and took the pen he handed her. She scribbled the number on his arm, squeezing the muscles for good measure.  
“Thanks uh, Tori. I’ll see you around.”  
“Yeah…”

Watching him leave was hard. It was like watching the sun walk away, but something kept her in place… It felt so good to watch him go…

Snapping out of it a little, but still in a bubblegum haze, she skipped back to her friends at the table. 

“What’s got you skipping?” Andre asked.  
“Jack… from chemistry. From my chemistry class last semester. He caught me… now he has my number.”  
“Nice!”  
“Yeah…”

If she couldn’t focus on her schoolwork before… oh boy. Instead of taking notes she doodles hearts over “Jack and Tori forever” and merges of their last names, or rather her last name and the last name she assumed he had. 

He texted her later that day, asking to meet up. It was a haze, all she could say was yes, yes, yes. It was impossible to think around him, to hear him clearly, all she knew was that it felt nice to be around him and she wanted more. She didn’t have the faintest notion that she should be afraid. 

A whirlwind date was interrupted by a call. Her phone was overrun with texts, from Jade, Andre, Cat, and even Robbie. Robbie? What did he know about all this vampire stuff. 

Reality hit her like a cold bucket of water. Jack’s smell was all over her, and reaching up to touch the stinging pain in her neck she could see the blood from a bite. Faint and dizzy she tried to get a grip on her surroundings, but the buzzing of the call kept interrupting her fragile focus. 

Oh. Phone call. 

It was Andre.

“Tori! Tori where are you everyone’s been looking for you!”  
“I… have a headache…”  
“Stay with me, ok Tori? What do you see around you?”  
“A… streetlamp. Oh shit is it nighttime?”  
“Yes it’s night. It’s been hours since anyone’s seen you. What else can you see? Can you see any street signs?”  
“Yeah, there’s one,” Jade’s warning flashed through her consciousness, breaking apart any remaining haze, “there’s one over here, South 12th street.”

Everything in her body told her to run. Run fast and get away from something she can’t even see, something that’s faster than her and stronger than her and-

“and here’s an intersection, 15th. Andre?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Please come get me, please, I’m so scared I don’t know what happened and I’m bitten and I don’t know what’s going on please-“

Sobs cut through her voice in bursts of two and three, “please, please come get me…”  
“We’re coming. It’s going to be ok. Stay on the phone with me… Jade’s closest she’s going to pick you up, okay?”  
“Okay.”

She couldn’t stop crying, but she managed to quiet herself down. Jade pulled up in her dad’s car a few minutes later, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she jumped in. 

Jade was distraught, then steeled when she saw the bite. 

“Trina did this?”  
“No, I don’t remember, just get me out of here he’s- I don’t know I don’t know I don’t…”

Jade reached over to hold her. The shock of cold skin made Tori jump.

“It was a vampire! It was, it was, I was following him and I can’t remember and you, I forgot about everything and you’re dead and-“ Tori gripped Jade’s arm with white knuckle pressure, “am I going to die?”  
“No. No you’re not,” Jade hit the gas, “and you’re not going to un-die, or, become undead, ok? It’s not happening. It’s not happening to you.”

Tori could barely hold herself together for the few minute drive. Dispite the initial shock she clung to Jade’s arm, squeezing it with everything she had. She tried deep breathing, but she was pretty sure that it only worked when you weren’t BLEEDING, FROM YOUR NECK-

Andre ran out to greet them. They’d pulled up to the Vegas house.

“Is Trina home?”  
“No.”

Andre lifted her out of the car, and she was met by Cat And Robbie sho had pre-cut bandages that managed to fit perfectly. The bite was cleaned and bandaged, and Andre put some kind of juice on it honestly she didn’t even question it.

What she did question was what Robbie knew about the situation. 

“Rex is a vampire.”  
“WHAT?!”  
Andre spoke up, “yeah I don’t know how this happened but, I mean I can’t stake him so… whatever.”  
“And he’s the first vampire you’ve found?”  
“Yeah.”  
Tori almost collapsed from exhaustion, “oh my god. Great. Great! Great great great.”

“I thought they were harmless but then Andre showed me that video. I think I peed myself.”  
“Good job.”  
“He had a plan to un-charm Beck, but when you went missing we started looking for you.”  
“Thanks. I just, I can’t remember who it was…”  
“Don’t worry Tori,” Andre said, “we’re going to figure it out. You just rest, and you’ll be ok.”  
“I’m not going to turn into a vampire?”  
“No, it looks like… huh.”

“It looks like,” Jade said, “someone took a bite and spat it out.”  
“I do… I remember something like that. He… I can’t remember anything else, I…”  
“It’s ok,” Jade leaned down to squeeze her shoulder, “you just rest. We’ll take care of it.”

Jade walked her to her room. There was so much she wanted to ask, but now wasn’t the time.

Her dreams were predictably screwed up. This one started with her staring at the sky illuminated by a full moon. The silver light dripped off of the trees, rolled along the sidewalk, and pooled at her feet. It was cold, freezing, but Tori was burning up. There was a fire in her, hotter and brighter than anything she’d ever seen. 

Steam rolled out of her mouth and nose. Flames licked her throat. Dry heat climbed her arms, even as she submerged them into the starlight pools. She dove in. The water was cool, and it quieted the blaze inside her. The heat remaining in her skin dispersed at the surface, leaving drip like scars behind. When she surfaced her breaths were deep and full. The untapped energy inside her core remained sealed away. 

She woke up in the middle of the night again, but not with a scream. Instead she calmly rolled out of bed, opened her window, and looked up for the moon. She stood there for minutes at least, basking in the cold light of the moon. 

During school she had an escort. Sometimes it was Jade, sometimes Cat and sometimes Robbie. Andre didn’t show up to school that day. Cat suggested another sleep over. Tori and Jade agreed. It seemed like the easiest way to keep them all safe.

Tori spotted Jack at lunch, but tried to hide it. 

“Hey Tori,” apparently not well enough.  
“Hey, uh…”  
“Jack.”  
“Jack. Jack! Yeah from yesterday. Hi!”  
“Hi. How’ve you been?”  
“I’ve been…” she felt it again, a bubblegum wash taking out all her senses.   
“Good, I hope?”  
“Good,” an image of the full moon popped into her mind. An image of darkness. An image of bloody fangs attached to a certain boy. Danger. Run. Howl.   
“Well I was wondering if you wanted to meet up again. Maybe, after school today? I actually need some help on my homework.”  
“That sounds,” the bubblegum wash took her again, but then it stopped, “good! I’ll meet you in the blackbox.”  
“Sounds good. See ya Tori.”

She texted Andre. Asked where he was. A plan was starting to click into place in her mind. 

It wasn’t a very good plan. But it was better than meeting Jack alone again. The thought sent chills down her spine.

When school let out she made her way to the blackbox. It was difficult to work up the nerve. She found herself stalling, at the water fountains, the lockers, her classrooms, but she had to. She had to go. 

Why did he spit her out? Why didn’t she get charmed the second time? Why was it so damn hard to open a door?

“It’s push” Cat whispered from around the corner.  
“Oh, shhhhh”  
“Shhhhhh!”

She pushed the door aside. He was waiting for her.

“Hey Tori.”

A draft slammed the door shut behind her. Oh dear.

“I’m uh, p- pretty good. Wh- what about you?”  
“I’m perplexed, I’ve got to say.”  
“Why’s that?”

He circled her. 

”I think, I’ve never tasted something like that before. Some blood like yours.”  
“You tasted my blood?!” she prayed that her acting education was enough to throw him off, “That’s so weird you big, goofball, weirdo…”  
“Cut it out.”  
“Okay”

He came around from behind her, making her whip her head around.

“Ha ha, you’re kind of… scaring me… Jack…”  
“You’ve got a kick in your blood. And I am sorry I kicked you out the other day. That was so rude of me, but now we can finish.”

He cocked his head and looked her in the eyes. She felt nothing.

“Well that sounds… PEACHY!!!!! PEACHY!!”

The door handle rattled, but it was stuck shut. Jack turned and when he turned again Tori was gone.

“It’s going to take a lot more than that to save you, Tori. Let’s play a little game. Come out, come out wherever you are…”

In a corner she crouched behind some props, getting her silver tipped knife ready. A body slammed against the door. Then another. Jack’s footsteps were inaudible, she couldn’t tell where he was unless she-

peaked.

“GOTCHA!”

Tori screamed and jabbed his eye with the knife. A muffled shout came from behind the door as it was busted in. 

“There he is!” Jade yelled, flinging herself at Jack. He grabbed her and swung her easily against the wall. Andre slid in with a crossbow, firing.

He missed, “oh come on!” and Jack body slammed him onto the floor. 

He positioned his fangs for a bit when

“AAAAAHhhh, FUCK!” Tori caught him again in the leg. “That’s IT!”

Jack grappled Tori as Cat helped Andre to his feet. A bolt slid into the crossbow in seconds but it wasn’t quick enough. Tori screamed as he bit her, taking a little sip before Andre fired.

He caught the bolt inches away from Tori’s face. 

“Lucky day, huh?”

He cracked his neck and dropped her, opting to pick up a prop cane. In one stride he reached Cat and Andre. Cat ducked but Andre caught the blow on his crossbow, knocking it out of his hand. A spotlight flooded the room, blinding Jack.

“What are you waiting for?” Jade shouted from the catwalk, “Get out of there!”

Andre ducked behind some boxes, joining Cat in her hiding place. 

“So you think you can just eat my friends?” Jade said as she hopped down, “you’re going to have to try harder than that.”

He collided with her, but she kept her footing. Not moving an inch she twisted his arm behind his head, and Jack let out a screech of pain. 

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he said, “but you’ve got another thing coming if you think-“

He broke out of the hold in a move too fast for the eye to see. Now he faced Jade in a crouch.

“If you think that’s all I’ve got.”

Jade braced for a second impact, but he was stronger. He threw her to the ground and hissed as he pressed his weight against his arms. She was trapped. 

An ear splitting whistle erupted from the side of the room. All the humans cringed but the two vampires screeched and covered their ears. Temporarily incapacitated, Jack rolled off of Jade and out of the spotlight.

Tori ran up and helped a still reeling Jade to her feet. Back in her hiding spot she whispered with urgency,

“You have to bite me.”  
“What?”  
“That’s why he set this up he says my blood has a kick or something so bite me.”  
“No I can’t do that I don’t-“  
“You have to, he’s kicking your ass and we’re all going to die so just do it!”  
“No!”  
“When’s the last time you’ve had any blood?”  
“Last night”  
“Well he had some just now and it’s magic or whatever the fuck so do it!”  
“I- you- fine!”  
“Okay be gentle- augh!”

Tori’s vision swam as she was drained of blood for the third time in twenty four hours. Shock and pain were the first thing she felt, but then numbness set in, first at the site of the bite and then to her entire body. Black spots grew around her as she passed out. 

Jade recoiled from what she’d just done, but good god what a kick. She didn’t have much time to think as Jack had heard Tori’s scream and come running. 

Jade braced for an impact and he grappled her as best he could but she didn’t slip an inch. With another twisting motion she fought the strength of his arm to wrest it behind his back. She grabbed his side for leverage and slammed him into the table of props beside them.

“How does THAT feel?!”

Jade screamed as Jack hissed. They struggled, arm against arm, until Jade had him pinned in the pile of props. Kicking and hissing he fought for his life as Jade readied the killing blow but she-

couldn’t.

“What’s the hold up?” Andre shouted.  
“I can’t kill him.”  
“Well I can!”

A bolt went whizzing past her ear and straight into Jack’s forehead. He dropped limp in her grip. 

“Vampire huh?”  
“Yeah…”

Jade ran a quick calculation on him, his strength, his weapons his-

“Okay.”   
“You don’t care?”  
“Well I guess I should, but if it weren’t for you I’d be dead so like, whatever.”  
“Cool.”

Cat ran over to Tori, “she’s breathing.”  
“Will she turn?”  
“No, I didn’t drink enough.”

“So…” Cat stood and swayed side to side, “sleep over time?”  
“Yes”  
“No”  
“Why not! Come on it’ll be really fun, Jade said she’ll go.”  
“I have to take care of, this,” Andre gestured to the extremely bloody scene on the props table.   
“Oh.”

“Yeah are we going to get accused of murder?” Jade said as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.  
“No. My grandma knows a guy.”  
“Honestly I can’t even think right now so you know what, go ahead.”  
“You can trust me, I got this.”  
“Whatever you say.”

Cat grunted in the corner, trying to lift up a semi-conscious Tori. 

“I’ll get that.”

Jade said as she leaned down, easily picked her up and slung her across her shoulders. 

“See you.”  
“Bye!”

At Cat’s house Tori got bandaged up, told what happened, and went right to sleep. 

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Cat asked. They were saddled up together on the couch as Tori snored on the mattress.  
“I can’t,” Jade shifted away a bit, “it’s like a ringing in my head at night, I can’t sleep.”  
“Are you suuuuuuure?”  
“Yeah Cat I’m pretty sure.”  
“Just try.”  
“It’s not going to do- you know what, fine.”

Jade lay on the couch, eyes closed.

“I’m still awake, dummy.”  
“Just wait.”

A mechanical clutter came from a short distance away. At the end of it, Cat sat on the other end of the couch with a keyboard. 

“Ok just close your eyes.”  
“I don’t think-“  
“Do it!”

She did. Cat switched they keyboard on and played a couple of spooky notes. 

“What is this?”  
“Shhhhhhh!”

The buzzing that Jade had talked about was all around her, impossible to ignore. It started when she turned, like a call to the night. It drove her out of the house. She couldn’t sit still. She had to move, to hunt, to feed. Or at least, she’d hunt and feed if she didn’t have a steady supply. It drove her crazy. 

The notes of the keyboard resonated with that noise around her. It clung to and dissolved the particles of disruption into harmony, bedeviling silence into lovely noise. 

Cat had made S’monster Smash into a lullaby, and after Jade had stopped moving around to get comfortable, she let the keys rest. She sat a minute and basked in her friend’s quiet, long, and deep breaths, before she fell asleep herself.


	2. DAY ONE

On a thunderous night in 1862 Dan Alabaster buried a staff that was never meant to be recovered. 

On the same night Eli Scurge imbibed a glowing fluid from a test tube before vanishing. 

One night early in May 2019 a hooded figure dug up an artifact. She knew exactly where it was buried. She had applied herself to her studies in the occult and true to form the darkness rewarded her richly. This person was not Trina Vega.

That’s who she sold it to.

When Beck didn’t return her calls Jade knew something was wrong. Sure, sometimes he would ignore her just to tease, but never like this. She didn’t even know where he was, so she showed up to his house like she usually did. 

She didn’t bother knocking on the door of the trailer, because why bother. It gave way under her, lock already broken from several break ins. Also done by her. Whatever. 

He was sprawled out on the bed, holding his phone above his face and letting the light pour over him. His shirt was off, which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was that he was so engrossed in texting that he didn’t look up at Jade. 

She knew how to fix this. Taking the phone in one hand and tossing it to the floor in one swift motion she jerked Beck up to attention.

“What’s the matter with you! I was worried. And you’re not allowed to pay attention to something more than me. That’s the deal.”  
“Heyyy, what’s up? Jade? What’re you doing here?”  
“Why don’t I ask you what’s up, huh? I called you like six times today and you didn’t even text me back!”  
“I was… woah,” Beck turned to look out the window, “is it nighttime already?”  
“Yes and you’re worrying me!”  
“Don’t worry, it’s all ok. I’m fine.”  
“Who were you texting?”  
“Trina”  
“What were you doing texting her?”  
“She asked about a homework assignment.”  
“She’s not in any of her classes, last I checked.”  
“It’s for a class I was in last year, ok?”  
“No, not ok, why didn’t you text me? Or call? … Hello, Earth to Beck have you completely dropped off the radar?”  
“No… no. Sorry. My head’s a little fuzzy.”  
“Fine.”  
“… You broke in again.”  
“Yeah. So?”  
“Nothing.”  
“I feel like…” Jade took a breath and looked around. Same old trailer, same floor and windows and bed and doo dads. But a different Beck, “you’re far away from me.”  
“Yeah? And I’m not close right now?”

He hugged her from behind, and she leaned her head back into the groove it fit in so well. He rocked the both of them back and forth and together they were warm. 

“Physically… but not…”  
“What?”  
“You’re not here, with me. You’ve been like this all day I can’t tell what’s up with you.”  
“I’m here, hey,” Beck leaned around to face her, “I’m here.”

He leaned in to kiss her, but the kiss was cold, mechanical. Something in the back of his mouth tasted sweet. Sweet like bubblegum lip gloss. 

“You’ve been kissing someone else!?”  
“I- look now I can’t lie to you-“  
“Who was it?!”  
“Trina, babe-“  
“WHAT?! You kissed Trina? You’re texting Trina? What, are you dating her too?”  
“We’re not dating I’m just-“  
“Cheating on me!”  
“If you want to put it that way but-“ his phone buzzed, “hold on.”  
“Hold on?! Who is it?”  
“Trina.”

“What-“ the world seemed to be falling apart in front of her. Trina? Trina?! “what does she have that I don’t?”

She waved a hand in front of his face. It didn’t even make him flinch. His eyes were glossy. 

“Hello?”

He didn’t even look up. 

Jade left in tears, not understanding any part of what just happened except that she needed to kill Trina Vega right that minute. 

She stormed up to the Vega’s house, but paused before banging down the door. The Vega’s dad was a cop, so no duking it out in front of him. She decided to stake out their house instead. 

After an hour of furious meditation in a shrub Trina entered her line of sight. She was on the phone with someone, just chatting away. Unaware of her impending doom. Before Jade could leap out and ambush her though she got in her car. Not to be outdone, Jade got into her car and tailed her. She saod something about meeting up after picking up… something. 

No music on the radio was angry enough, so she hummed a death metal melody instead. Picturing the carnage that was about to be wreaked on Trina did nothing to calm her down. Her heart dropped when Trina pulled up to Cat’s house. Did Cat like her better now too?

Instead of Cat coming out to meet Trina, Cat’s brother did. He looked as shady as ever, holding a pouch of something and looking behind his shoulder as he walked up to the car. 

Trina got out and took the bag from him, smelled it, and gagged. They had a moment of conversation before… it seemed like she scared him off. Unusual. She strode off to the sidewalk, and then just vanished. 

Jade got out to investigate. There was a strong smell of something… blood? Couldn’t be. She rounded the corner, following the smell, and there was Trina, drinking whatever was in the bag. 

She just couldn’t hold her rage back, “TRINA!!!!”  
She jumped “WHAT!?”  
“YOU BOY STEALING WHORE, COME HERE!”

She charged at her, and only when they were close enough to exchange blows did she see the blood all over her face. Some of it spilled on the ground, unmistakable. She charged into Trina, trying to knock her off her feet. 

She stood firm, she didn’t even budge. Jade kept pushing, trying to get some leverage before the shock wore off and she would try to fight back. Fuck, was she always this strong?

Usually people ran when she charged, or even looked in their direction. She wasn’t used to this. Trina grabbed her with both her arms and held her in place in front of her. 

“Shut up!!!!”  
“Okay- what’s, are you drinking blood?”  
“I said shut up!”

She pinned her against a wall, and stared at her. The eye contact was extremely uncomfortable. 

“Okay, don’t you want to leave me alone now?”

Her gaze sent pricks of discomfort through her spine. Something definitely wasn’t right.

When she didn’t stop squirming Trina pinned Jade again, this time on the ground.

“What are you? What are you doing?!”  
“Fuck it isn’t working.”  
“What isn’t working?”  
“Never mind. Hey Jade, Could you, uh,” Trina leaned in close to her ear, the scent of blood rolling out of her mouth, “not tell anyone about this?”  
“I…” the body above her was ice cold. The blood, the speed, the strength, something was very very very not right.  
“Fuck you’re not going to keep this s secret are you.”  
“Vampire-“  
“Yeah, uh huh, and how do you think I’m going to keep this under wraps with you in the picture?”  
“Don’t kill me! Don’t- ok if I’m murdered then someone’s going to find out bout you, that you killed me and then everyone’s going to know-“  
“You’re right. Hey Jade?”  
“Yeah?”

Trina pulled her up to a sitting position. They were face to face. Her eyes were unsettling in a way they weren’t just the day before. Her muscles were the same but now they had more punch. A red light glowed from beneath her skin. 

“Can you keep a secret?”

Jade nodded vigorously. She was out of her grip she could run- but her body wouldn’t move. 

“Hmmmm,” Trina seemed to be contemplating, “but I don’t trust you.”

A choked ‘wait’ became a gasp when Trina’s fangs dipped into her neck. The pain was immeasurable, all the life in her body was flowing out through two fang-holes being drilled into what felt like bone. It took a while. For Jade it felt like hours.

Trina dropped her, dead on the pavement. 

“Now it’s our problem, capiche? If they find out about me, they find out about you, and we’re both dead.”

She felt her organs shut off. She felt her heart accelerate trying to pump vessels full of air. She felt her lungs still as the movement in her body stopped. She felt her body seize, and let go, each bone aching from the inside as they dried up. 

Trina strode off sometime during this. Jade lay on the pavement, unable to move, dark spots dancing on her vision, not quite dying fast enough. Her eyes ached as they had been open for minutes, but she was unable to close them. Her tendons pulled and pushed as the dead muscles settled into their final resting place. 

Then, all at once, she drew in a breath. It wasn’t air she felt rushing through her, but something dark, heavy, and cold. It flowed from her dead lungs to her dead body, seeping into every bundle of nerves and clump of cells. It restarted her body slowly, starting with the lungs and ending with the heart. It burned with what she was sure was dried dead tissue straining to pump this energy through her. 

When her heart started it went a lot faster. Through the heart she was illuminated with something that wasn’t life, but could pretend if she really tried. Slowly she felt her skin again, cold, and blinked the dust out of her eyes.

Sitting up was a process, as she was the weakest she had ever felt. First she was able to culr her fingers, and then with her hands inched her arms upward. They fell on her, limp. Taking a deep breath she was able to heft them to the side again. Then, having collected her energy for a few moments, she made another attempt. Straining she was able to gain control of her arms and next, her torso. She pushed with her arms and managed to get upright before falling again. 

It was at this moment that she started to cry. It was completely clear to her that she was dead, and she mourned the heat she lost more than anything. Without a body to fight it the freezing night poured into her bones and settled there. In her ribs she could feel the futility of breathing, she could stop and keep living, whatever that meant now. 

Even her tears were warmer than her skin. As they ran down her face she could feel something living escape her body, maybe the last piece of life that she had. She knew she would have to hide, lie to her friends, get someone to eat just to avoid dying again, but now she was cold, achingly cold. 

Not one to give up after an existential set back. She focused her rage at the situation into her body. It ignited enough of her muscles to sit up and haul herself against a bush. Close enough. She took a minute to breathe, though she didn’t have to, and looked up at the sky. Still the dead of night. 

Maybe only a moment had passed, one that felt like a year. 

She could smell most acutely the blood that had spilled on the floor. A puddle of it coalesced around the cracks of the sidewalk. 

Some need took over her. Driven by instinct she stumbled and clawed her way to the blood and got a taste. It sent sparks of un-life through her. She licked the pavement, aware of how pathetic it was but unable to stop, and by the time she drank all she could tears ran again down her face. 

Power unlike any she had ever known coursed through her in place of blood. It lit up her senses, and for a second she was overwhelmed. When she adjusted the world was in sharp focus. She could see, sense the life in the trees and the ground. She could see the craters on the moon and the veins in the blades of grass. She could see the light from the street lights, and it hurt to look at for long.

She got to her feet easily, aware that she needed more to get through the night. Cat’s brother.

Jade walked as calmly as she could to the Valentine’s driveway. Cat’s brother stepped out when she knocked at the side door. He looked her up and down and held out a bag of blood. She took it.

In one motion she poured the contents into her mouth. It tasted revolting at first, all metal and poison. When it touched her teeth, now sharp as knives, she realized she had made a mistake. She gagged on the blood as her human body fought to throw it up just as her fangs drained the small pool in her mouth. She bent over to drain the sludge from her throat to her fangs as they processed her first meal. The taste would not go away.

She coughed and breathed in a concoction of blood fumes and dead air. Droplets fell from her lips and she looked up, Cat’s brother had left. Cat was staring from the door. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Jade couldn’t come up with the words. Her stuttering only intensified the revolting remainder of blood clinging to her throat. As it became difficult to breath, NOT crying, she hung her shock and fear on her face. 

Cat rushed out to her, throwing arms out but then stopping. 

“Do you need a hug?”

Jade nodded. 

The moment she touched her she could smell the blood. Both of them. Jade could smell the blood in Cat’s veins, and Cat could smell the bloody mouth above her. Jade needed a hug, though. Badly, it seemed; she was freezing cold.

“We’ll get you warmed up! I know just what to do.”

She swallowed an ‘I’m not so sure you do’ and let herself be led inside. Almost inside. 

It was like a barrier that she couldn’t pass or, trespass. Of all the vampire stuff, this had to be real?

“Uh, Cat?”  
“Yeah?” She spun around oh her heels, gaze vacant and expecting. Odd behavior didn’t seem to put her off, but Jade always wondered how much she stored away for later.  
“Can I,” she coughed into her sleeve, wiping away any extra blood, “can I come in?”  
“Yes! Come in Jade,” the barrier dissolved, and with it Cat’s arm returned, tugging her into her home.

“Stay right here, okay?”  
“Sure, where are you-“ and she was gone.

Just standing was a trial. The sensory input from a thousand bright lights, scents, and even the air currents just made her want to curl up and scream. She was a big girl, though, and big girls don’t-

“Just one more second!”

Cat skipped from one hallway to another, still leaving Jade to stand rigid in the living room. It felt like a horror movie, like she was just waiting to pounce.

With a sudden shock she contemplated the possibility that she was a danger to Cat. Big girls don’t cry, big girls don’t-

She jumped as a mug of hot cocoa pressed into her hands. The heat spread quickly, and even faster as she drank. The quick burning sensation evaporated into-

“Fuck!”

Cramps.

“Oh my gosh you got allergic to milk!”  
“Lactose intolerant and no, I’m not. I’m not- fuck!”

No human food, got it.

Crunched into a ball on the ground, Jade really started to recon with what this meant for the rest of her un-life. No food. No heat. No sun? She was going to have to drop out of school, her friends would hate her. 

A warm blanket settles around her shoulders, “fresh from the dryer! Just for Jade!”

She ran the fabric between her fingers.

“Thanks.”


	3. Chapter 3

Trina Vega was having literally, the best fucking day of her life. Means aside, she managed to achieve absolutely everything she wanted with just a little planning and effort. Scratch that, no effort at all. She deserved it all. Nothing could stop her.

Popular,sexy, and casted in every production she ever wanted. She was irresistible! She always had been, but now she had boys on either side of her telling her so. Directors complimenting her. Classmates green with envy, like she had been for so long.

Beck would tell her. he had to be the prettiest boy she’d ever seen, but she couldn’t make a move with that scissor wielding psychos’ claim on him. Well now that she put her in her place she was free. Free of fear, free of rejection, free of what everyone thought of her.

That was the most appealing part of this, she thought, that no one could say anything about her ever again. Years and years of knowing she was good, great, and having no one see it but herself. Now everyone could see. She could make them see.

Something small like the loss of internal body heat didn’t sway her. She got Beck to install a space heater in his trailer, along with a few other things to make her a little more comfortable. He didn’t mind the bags of blood in his fridge, so kind, and he didn’t ask where she went, he didn’t get jealous, she could see why Jade liked him so much. He was easy to love.

She did love him, that part wasn’t fake. It’s just that she falls in love so easily and so, so often. It’s so kind of him to overlook her flaws. That and she finally gave him happiness. All that doubt and fear? She had the power to make it go away. It felt so good to be needed for once.

All that fear and doubt in her? Quiet. Finally.

She didn’t regret what she did so much as shut it out. She was always very good at that. Compartmentalizing, putting things in boxes, doing whatever it took to be happy. Well, something like being undead wasn’t going to stop her from having a good time. She made her choice, and it made her.

She didn’t need to hang around her sister’s lame friends anymore. Probably better that she didn’t, what with Jade being so cagey and unpredictable. She’d been at school every day, despite the effort it must have taken. Trina had… a much easier time with skipping classes, getting sleep. Despite not hanging around her, she kept an eye on Jade. No reason not to.

She didn’t like that Jade was hanging out with her sister so often. It felt… weird, like she wanted to protect her and shout at her all at once. Both of them. She felt a little responsible for both of them, and that made sense, but there wasn’t any way she could intervene without spilling her secret. Whatever.

She kept an eye on beck too. A light grip, just texting him every hour and making sure she knew where he was at all times. Can’t be too careful, she can feel him slipping when he’s around his friends. No matter. It’s an easy fix.

Tori too, she’d been giving off weird vibes ever since… well, one of the boys she’d turned disappeared. She wasn’t upset, per se, just suspicious. No reason not to keep tabs on her too.

All this newfound responsibility was weighing on her. Stalking three people at once? Even with her new abilities it was kind of a challenge. She had a nice boy to kiss though, so it wasn’t that bad. She talked to him about it but someone in a trance wasn’t such a good conversation partner. Whatever, he was hot and took off his shirt whenever she asked. Why complain?

She hadn’t seen Tori and Jade all day, which usually wasn’t anything to worry about but they asked Beck to hang out. Obviously he said no, because he had a date with Trina, but it was just one more thing to worry about. Ugh. Being all powerful was sooooo stressful…

She couldn’t exactly keep them apart in school, but she could tighten her grip. She also couldn’t keep following them around, she needed to be in some classes. So she texted and waited.

The teacher was in the middle of SUCH a boring class which is why she could tell that Tori and Beck were talking. Lunch would start soon, and then she’d refresh her hold on him. Still, it made her nervous.

Why talk to her? Why talk to him? What were they up to that she didn’t know about?

Tori felt VERY uncomfortable with Andre’s plan but no one could think of a better one so. She stopped Beck in the hallway during a water break. Even possessed he still had the exact same habits.

He wasn’t super talkative, probably a symptom of the trance from what Jade had said. Cool.

Getting him to drink a potion hadn’t worked, neither had drawing a bunch of sigils. This seemed to be the last resort, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it would do. She wasn’t sure if it would even work.

“Beck can I see your arm for a second?”

“Um… sure?”

He held out his arm, face scrunched up in confusion. Tori hesitated to take it.

“I kind of need to get back to class, Tori.”

“Um, yeah just, like, a sec.”

She hurriedly ran around the corner and whispered to Andre.

“This is ridiculous! Do we even have to do it?”

“Yes, absolutely, this is the only thing that’s going to work.”

“It’s so… weird!”

“This whole thing is weird, do you think I wanted to do this?”

“You’re not the one doing it!”

“Well,” he checked around the corner, “you better hurry, he’s leaving.”

“What?”

She turned the corner to find an empty hallway. With a yelp of frustration she sped down past the closed classroom doors, trying to remember exactly what class he was supposed to be in.

“There!”

“Here?” Beck gestured to himself, raising his arm and pointing it to his face.

“I’m so sorry!”

Tori ran at him, grabbing his arm and biting down before he could shake her off.

“Tori! What the hell!”

“Good luck!” she said, running away.

“With what?”

Back in class Trina flinched like she’d had an airhorn blown in her ear.

Beck inspected the bite. It broke skin.

“what the hell?” he mumbled to himself.

His phone buzzed, lit up with texts from Trina. He moved to answer before stalling. Why answer? Why was she texting him? Wait…

He checked the date. He’d been… unconscious for a week and a half? What?

He was about to seek out Tori, she might know what happened, before hissing and falling against a wall.

That bite sure packed a punch. The teeth marks started to sting, bad. What the fuck? The walls around him blurred, then snapped into focus. The pain went away. The bite went away except for two pinpricks still bleeding. Soon those closed up as well.

Without any sign that what just happened was real, Beck decided to go back to class and forget it.

By the time lunch started he had a pounding headache. He slid into his usual seat with his friends and ate. Everyone tried to act normal.

“Are you a dog yet?”

“… No, Cat, I don’t think so.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like, my head hurts, do you have anything?”

“Sure!” Cat produced an ibuprofen from her bra, “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Back? I saw you guys like, yesterday.”

“About that,” Andre folded his hands in front of him, “there’s been a little-“

“BECK!”

Trina marched up to the table, showing Cat off the bench to sit next to Beck.

“Trina? What’s… up…”

“I just thought I’d check in on you, make sure we’re still on for tonight.”

“What…” he felt a pull emanating from her, something pink and sweet, “yeah…”

Suddenly it snapped. His headache burst behind his temples and a bright impression of the moon flashed on his closed eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No idea? Are you sure?”

“Yeah I-“ his phone buzzed, showing nearly twenty texts from Trina, “what…”

Checking the messages, he could see a weeks worth of messages that he definitely didn’t send. Stuff he’d agreed to… stuff he’d done…

“What’s going on?”

Seeing that her hold on Beck was broken, and not willing to deal with whatever was about to happen, Trina left in a huff.

“Seriously, what’s going on?”

“There’s, um,”

“Did you bite me?”

“Yes-“

“Was I dating Trina?”

“Well it’s not like you had a choice-“

“Did we,” he turned to Jade, placing a hand on her shoulder, “break up?”

“I…” she stared blankly, just waiting for him to-

“Whoah,” he moved his hand, realizing that her skin was freezing, “whoah.”

“It’s not something I wanted and there’s so much happening and I thought I was going to lose you, you have no idea-“

“You’re right,” he said, closing himself off to the others, “I have, no idea.”

“Listen,” Andre got into his explaining pose again, “this is a lot to take in but Vampires are real, they can put you in a trance, and that’s where you’ve been for the last week or so.”

“I just… don’t believe you.”

“Dude-“

“Don’t, ‘dude’ me, ok? There’s- I can’t deal with this, sorry.”

He got up and left.

“So who’s going to tell him he’s a werewolf?” Cat asked.

“Not me,” Andre said, getting out a heavily used journal, “he’ll be back when he’s chasing frisbees, don’t worry.”

He flipped open to a page with a few post-it notes.

“Hey Jade,” she looked over, “touch this.”

“Will it hurt me?”

“Maybe.”

After a moment of eye contact she rolled her eyes and reached over to the sigil. As soon as her skin made contact a spark flew from the page, filling the air with a strong copper smell.

“Ow! You- well I guess I can’t complain.” Jade said, rubbing her finger.

“Well, you’ve got no soul.”

“Thanks.”

“No I mean literally. Souls are real and you don’t have one.”

“Did I have one?”

“Presumably.”

“Well where’d it go?”

“No sure. If it were in hell it would smell like sulfur.”

“…cool. What does this,” she gestured in the air, “mean?”

“Like I said, not sure.”

“Cool.”

“Will I be chasing frisbees?” Tori asked.

“Uh…” Andre flipped back a few pages in his notebook, “probably.”

“Ughhhhhh.”

“Awww,” Jade said with a pout, “don’t worry puppy I’ll throw them for you.”

Tori stuck out her tongue in response.

“How many days until the full moon anyways?”

“Ten. It’ll hit you first, then Beck.”

“There’s a gap?”

“You’re a… genetic werewolf? I guess? He’s been bitten, so he’ll be weaker than you.”

“Like Trina…” Jade mused.

“Yeah…”

“It’s like I knew, I knew she would kick my ass if I ever tried anything.”

Andre started scribbling down notes, “so she turned you?”

“Yes.”

“And you took down Jack-“

“Yes.”

“So he was probably bitten as well.”

“Huh.”

“Why is Trina more powerful, then?”

“I don’t know. Tori?”

She snapped to attention, “what?”

“Has your sister been doing…” Andre searched for the phrase for a moment, “occult rituals recently?”

“No…”

“So, nothing unusual before all of this started going on?”

“Well, I guess she started hanging out with some friends on the weekends. And she’d never really had friends so I guess that’s something. And then the popularity and the success but that must have been after she went all…” she put her hand to her mouth, imitating fangs.

“Do you know who it was she was hanging out with?”

“No, she never said.”

“Mm.”

“Well I’m going to go and find out.”

“Jade!”

Tori shouted after her as Jade left the table. What was she thinking?

Jade stormed into the halls of Hollywood Arts, the school that she might never graduate. Now that she was dead did it matter? Did it matter what schools she wanted to go to? Apply to?

Did the spotlight even matter when she was too cold to feel it?

She hesitated in the hallway, knowing that Trina went one way and Beck went the other. She stood, and tried not to think about the things she could never do now. Prom, again. Dancing, she must be intolerable to touch. Grad parties, she couldn’t have the cake, or pizza with her friends, or go to the park or the beach or just outside without gearing up. Her casual life was over. No matter what she did something reminded her she was dead. No matter how happy she was she would always be cold.

Beck didn’t love her. Not like this. If he even did listen to their explanations he wouldn’t want her back. How could she blame him?

Tori watched from behind a corner while Jade ducked into the janitors closet. She went in after her.

“What’s up with you?”

“I don’t know-“

“You can’t just storm off like that, especially saying you’d go after Trina and-“

“I know”

“-why is se stronger than you anyways? How do you know that?”

“I don’t know”

“What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know! OK?”

Jade backed up against the wall, feeling more cornered now than she did fighting Jack.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know why this is happening- I don’t know why this is happening to me! I just- I don’t deserve this, being dead or you questioning me like I’m some kind of hostage. Ok! I’m dead, I’m super dead and repulsive and the very concept of me sets you on edge, whatever. I’m fucking- sick, I’m somethingI don’t have control over and what you guys just… accept it? You just let me back in like I’m still your friend? Like I can’t just kill one of you ifI wanted to?”

“But… you, don’t, want to, right?”

“That’s not the POINT! I’m dangerous, just, get away from me. All of you.”

“You- ok, first of all” Tori stood with her body blocking the door, she knew that Jade could just push her aside but… she had to try, “you aren’t any of those things. Well, you are dead, but, you’re still Jade! And you’ve threatened us with knives and stuff before, and we still felt safe- I mean, safe enough to hang out with you. You’re you, you’re choosing not to be dangerous just like you always do. You can’t scare us away.”

“That’s what you think-“

“I do! Listen, I’m going to be going through something too, the… wolf… thing, and you can at least hang around to help us out with that, right?”

“I don’t see why any of you want me around.”

“Because we’re your friends! We care about you, and you’re going through a lot. We’re all going through so much. We need to stick together.”

“Great. I’m glad we’re sticking together because we need to-“

“I want to- to Stick together.”

“Oh.”

Tori relaxed her stance in front of the door, “come on,” and held out her hand, “don’t do anything… stupid.”

Jade took her hand,

“You’re… stupid.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didn't know there were so many in the victorious community. thank you kings. yes this will be 25k+. yes I do write slowly. yes it WILL get done I promise you that.

They went over the plan a couple of times just to make sure everyone was ok with it. Jade would be in the room with Tori, Andre, Cat, and Robbie would be right outside the door with a bag of sandwich meats.

Robbie offered to have Rex sit in too. Jade said absolutely not.

“So do you… feel anything?”

“No,” Tori shifted around in her blanket. She wasn’t sure about the clothes tearing part of it but wasn’t about to take any chances.

“Do you think Beck’s going to take me back?”

“What?”

“Well I don’t think you’re going to remember any of this, so…”

“Well, I-“

“DON’T” Jade shouted, seeing Tori reach for her phone, “record this. Don’t.”

“Fine! Fine. Um…” she looked around, “I don’t know. I don’t think he feels safe right now. When he does… I don’t know.”

“Helpful.”

“Well this is all really scary. I can’t imagine what he’s going through alone.”

“I wish I could be there for him.”

“He-” tori sighed, “you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. He needs to come to us when he’s ready.”

“I could just, snap some sense into him. He needs-“

Jade paused. She could see a yellow ring starting to glow in Tori’s eyes.

“He needs?”

“You need… my help right now.”

“Yeah I-“ she shivered, “I guess I do.”

Jade knocked the inside of the door, “you guys ready?”

A muffled “yeah” came in response.

“Alright Tori, how are you-“

A sickening cracking sound came from under the blanket. She could hear Tori straining, and maybe some of her bones exploding.

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah,” Tori whispered horsely, “it’s kind of… fucking hurts.”

Jade watched as the blanket fell away. She turned to cover eyes but there was only fur. Fur and some dangerously clawed limbs. Tori’s groans of pain turned into growls that managed to sound like a scared hurt puppy and an alpha that had cornered its prey at the same time.

“Shit…”

She took a step back as a hulking mass of snapping cartilage, bending bones, and stretched skin. She’d felt the horror of transformation first hand, it was something else entirely to watch it happen.

Fear kept her frozen in place. When Andre called in to ask if things were ok… she couldn’t answer. The Tori-wolf swiveled its head like an owl, fixing Jade with its wild, animal eyes. Silently, joints moved the lanky body, muscles operating as if marionette strings held its body from above.

Its cold gaze was broken by a wet sound from beneath the door. A piece of salami slid in, and for a moment nothing happened. Jade finally began to draw in a breath when Tori scared the shit out of her by scrambling to get the deli meat.

“FUCK!”

Her hand clutched at her chest as the best slid into the door, rattling the hinges and sending a squeak out of Cat on the other side. It became completely preoccupied with the salami, good.

It finished the salami. Not good.

The towering beast moved again in complete silence. Even with Jade’s enhanced hearing she couldn’t even make out the shuffle of fur that had to be moving, right? It couldn’t just… move, without making any noise, right? It couldn’t just sneak up to her in the missld of the night and snap her-

“Jade,”

“Yeah?”

“How’s it going in there?”

Andre’s voice did nothing to move the beast’s attention.

“Not fantastic, I’ve got to say-“

“Well as long as she hasn’t tried to kill you yet I think we’re good.”

“She might have tried to kill me?”

“Maybe. Ok now she’s going to smell you, and then you can try…”

“Try what?”

“I’m looking, my grandma’s never gotten this far before.”

The impulse to storm out both to run away and to give Andre a fucking earful was strong and almost irrepressible.

“Ok…”

She took a breath. In, and out. In- fuck she’s close. Right up to her face. The beast tilted its chin up, and sniffed the top of Jade’s head. Ok, the sniffing. There we go… there we go. It stared at her, eye to eye.

Now what?

The wolf that used to be Tori showed a little glimmer of something behind its eyes. It was fear.

“Oh… oh.”

The monster Tori quickly hid any weakness it mistakenly let slip.

“It’s ok, it’s- it’s not,” she sighed, “you’re, you’re scared. And you don’t know whats happening to you, and you feel like, you just feel like there’s something else in your head and you know that it’s you but you’ve never felt it before, and it feel scary and… alien.”

The wolf beast squinted. Could it even understand?

“You’re… you’re just a person, and you’ve gone through this much and you have no idea what’s going to happen next. You’re wondering about school, and your friends, and what’s going to happen to the rest of this night, and you want to know but you can’t because if you do you’ll have to accept this reality that’s totally insane and totally,” she laughed weakly, “totally not happening right now.”

“You’re… a lot stronger than I was. I mean, you had a moment there, where I bet it felt like you were dying. Maybe literally dying. Maybe that’s the only way it can work. It kills you a little bit and makes a home in you. But… it’s still you, you can… hear me, can’t you?”

For one breath, in, out, the beast stoodwith nothing behind its eyes. Then Tori nudged Jade with her muzzle, happily licking the side of her face and slumping her entire thousand pound form on top of her.

“Hey, hey!” Jade struggled to push her off. The licking was bad enough, but crushing her-

she stopped struggling when she felt the bones and muscles on top of her shift again. “oh,” the beast on top of her turned into a still very large golden retriever.

“Oh… hello…”

Tori sat up and licked Jade’s hand.

“Gross…”

Tori whined.

“Fine, fine. Not too gross,” she pat Tori on the head, “…not too gross.”

Dog Tori started barking, hopping up and down prancing aroundthe room. On the other side of the door Andre, Cat, and Robbie high-fived.

The barking must have drawn Trina’s attention, because she started to head up the stairs to check it out.

Dog-Tori could hear this, and started barking in excitement. Her sister! Her sister is coming to see her shiny coat and lovely snout! Maybe… maybe her judgement was impaired a bit. That voice in the back of her head was quiet though, and very easily overpowered with the one yelling ‘packmate! packmate! packmate!’

Jade shushing her put a damper on things. She even grabbed her and held her muzzle shut. Why? She tried to put all this emotion in her eyes.

“Fuck, don’t look at me like that.”

Dog-Tori whimpered. Why Jade? What’s wrong with a bit of celebration on her special night? This was wondrous, she could feel the moon embrace her mind and body and transform her into something wonderful. The threats of teenager-dom melted away like this, there was nothing but the present, and the present had no boy drama and no danger and so much love. Everything she felt she felt catastrophically; her love for her friends, her love for herself, her love for salami… What she felt more catastrophically was Jade’s disappointment. It was as if she was the only person in the world she wanted any approval from, and instead she got rebuked. It was only something small, her human brain reasoned, but anything was too much. Jade said she was scared about transforming, and Tori herself was scared too. But now she could show her just how joyous it could be, she wanted to show her.

All these thoughts melded together and happened all at once. The crush of emotion was overwhelming and impossible to deal with.

On the other side of the door Cat Andre and Robbie panicked. Trina could hear shout whispers from all three of them while marching up the stairs. As she rounded the corner she saw the three of them snap to attention, all trying their best to look normal.

Robbie stared really hard at the floor. Andre casually picked through the bag of deli meat. Cat whistled while looking up at the ceiling.

“…Is there a dog in there?”

“No,” Andre answered while slipping a slice of salami under the door.

“…I don’t have time for this.”

The three listened asTrina she rounded the corner, went back down the stairs, and out the door.

“Well that took care of itself-“ Robbie was interrupted from a knock at the other side of the door.

“I got a text, it’s Beck."


	5. Chapter 5

Cat and Robbie drove over to Beck’s trailer with magic medical supplies while Andre, Dog-Tori, and Jade drove to the location that Beck sent.

“Just a location…” Andre muttered while loading his crossbow.

“Don’t let that thing go off in my car!”

“I won’t! Just better to be prepared in case-“

”I don’t want to think about it. And you’re NOT allowed to shoot him.”

“No! I’m not going to shoot him! Just… get a little tranquilizer in… no big.”

“Andre.”

“He won’t even feel it if he’s all wolfed out.”

“I don’t want to shoot him!”

“YOU’RE not going to shoot-“

“I KNOW!”

A moment of silence passed in the car. Tori pulled her head in from a window, where she had been barking at the few pedestrians still out. She nuzzled Jade, then Andre, then licked them both.

“She’s quite the mediator,” Andre said, patting her head.

“I know… here it is.”

Jade pulled over, looking around for Beck.

“He must have moved. How fast can they go?”

“Fast.”

Jade and Andre stepped out of the car, followed by Tori.

“There!” Tori said, but it sounded more like “BARK”

She got the scent, and led them all to Beck, half in dog form and half out, lying in a bush.

He was unresponsive, but not unconscious. He recognized them all, and scowled at Andre’s crossbow. He had some scrapes and bruises but otherwise seemed fine physically. Mentally?

“He could talk if he wanted to,” Andre grunted, trying to get Beck up on his feet.

“I could,” he whispered back.

“What happened? Chase a squirrel up a tree?”

“No.”

Jade joined in, lifting his other shoulder, “did someone do this to you?”

Beck said nothing, only looking down and away.

“Hey,” she brushed a bit of fur out of the way, “this is…”

A vampire bite. It was hidden underneath a shallow scrape, as if someone tried to hide it.

“Oh man,” Andre heaved Beck onto Dog-Tori, “more vampires?”

“Who did this?” Jade grabbed his shoulders, making Beck wince.

He didn’t say anything.

The drive back to Beck’s trailer was quiet. Even Tori couldn’t get him to say anything, or even respond to her licks and pats. Robbie and Cat were waiting with medical supplies, and started fussing over him even before he could get out of the car.

“What happened?” Cat asked while trying to apply two bandages at once.

“He got attacked.”

“By who?”

“He won’t,” Jade hauled him roughly through the door, “SAY!”

“Well, try giving him a little space,” Robbie said while trying to both fix Cat’s bandages and apply some salve of his own, “it’s… really scary, what’s going on.”

Jade huffed and dropped him down on the bed. Andre read out instructions for the first aid kits, both magical and non-magical, while Cat and Robbie finished patching him up. He looked… exhausted.

“Dude,” Andre sat on the edge of the bed, “I know you’ve been through a lot but, it would help out so much if you told us who attacked you.”

Silence.

“We just want to keep you safe, man.”

“Beck you have to tell us,” Jade stood up to confront him, “you’re putting everyone in danger if you don’t.”

“He’s been through a lot can’t we just give him a break?” Robbie stood too, and only backed up a little when Jade glared at him, It’s a lot, this is- it’s too much. It’s too much for me, and I don’t even have any cool powers or you know like, terrible curses or whatever. Beck, it’s ok if it’s too much.”

“Fine. If I’m the bad guy now that’s fine. I’m out of here.”

“Jade!” Cat followed her as she stormed out. Tori followed.

“I don’t want to TALK about it!”

“Well can you at least-“

“No! He’s putting everyone in danger just because he’s scared that’s-“ she took a deep breath, just barely holding her anger at bay, “it’s not okay to do that just because you, he fucked up and went off on his own. He could have hurt someone! Maybe he did! He could have been spotted, what about that. He puts everyone in danger just because he choose to not deal with it. I can’t-“

Jade fume in frustration. Seeing the two of them still following her just made her madder. She tore off, running so fast even wolfed-out-Tori couldn’t keep up.

They found her later, Tori tracing her scent, and heard her before they could see her.

“FUCK!” accompanied by a crash. “FUCK!!!” another crash.

Tori and Cat ran to the noise. Jade was hurling trash cans, completely obliterating them.

“I can smell you, you know,” she said, turning to face them.

Right before Cat spoke a voice above them shouted, “Keep it down!”

“No,” Jade said, hurling another trash can for emphasis, “YOU keep it down!”

Silence. Tori trotted up to Jade, registering the evil glare she sent her and coming close anyway. She threaded between her legs and tried to give the very best puppy eyes she could muster. Jade sighed and covered her face.

Cat ran up and hugged her, “we were worried about you.”

“Yeah,” she said, returning the hug, “whatever.”

“No really, there’s got to be some scary dudes out there, you need to be more careful.”

“Yeah… he just, I didn’t have a choice, he did. He didn’t have to go through it alone like I did he chose-“ Jade sat down, letting Dog-Tori climb onto her lap, “he’s just so… stupid.”

“Boys are stupid.”

“Yeah…”

Cat and Jade hugged, with Tori in the middle. Suddenly the weight on her lap shifted, and Jade looked up to see Tori, in her human form, awkwardly occupying the same position.

“What do you remember-“

“Everything.”

“Ok… get off me!”

Jade shoved Tori and Cat away, but not as hard as she could have.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Jade fell asleep in class three times. Tori matched her for two. At lunch she burned herself because she forgot to put on sunscreen. Beck still wouldn’t talk to her. All of it just made her mad. She was exhausted, and now there was some new threat that Beck wouldn’t tell her about. As this just going to go on forever? One minute of peace and then a werewolf attack or vampire bite or someone finding out and ruining everything?

She just wanted a break. And no once was giving her one.

Except Cat. She suggested that the two of them and Tori (“why?” “I just think it would be fun”) should have a sleepover. Jade suggested planning out a trap for the vampire that bit Beck but Cat said absolutely no serious business except for feelings and ‘singings’. Cat could manage to get her calmed down enough, so she said yes.

Before heading over, she went over some potential plans with Andre. They were all shit. Without any information on who the vampire was, and how powerful they were, there was hardly anything to plan for. She kept thinking, though.

Cat arrived to pick Jade up, Tori already in the car. They looked like they had been… working?

“What’s,” Jade waved her hand, indicating the stains and sawdust that covered their clothes, “all this?”

“Oh, um…” Cat paused, “a party?”

“Cat.”

“Okay! Beck wanted to vampire proof his trailer so me and Robbie and Tori helped him.”

“Why wasn’t I invited?”

“Ummm… I don’t think he really wanted-“

“To hurt you!” Tori interjected, “with all the holy water and crosses and… stuff…”

“Whatever.”

The ride back was mostly Cat talking about… twister? She wasn’t exactly clear about it but they was going to be a mat involved somehow. Jade was still pissed but not enough to throw a fit about it. No drama. For Cat.

After getting home Cat went to change while Tori was stuck in the same sawdust coveredclothes from before. Cat offered her a top but one, they weren’t the same size and two, it had a candy cane with a chainsaw on it.

“Fine I’ll wear it for jammies then,” she said, heading back to her room to get… twister?

“Yeah I have no idea what she’s getting,” Tori said, sitting down.

“It sounds like… whatever. Could you get that sawdust off?”

“It’s kind of clingy.”

“Wow, just like you.”

Tori stuck her tongue out.

“Seriously,” Jade leaned over her, “it kind of sucks knowing your boyfriend is building a you-proof fortress so can you just- here,”

She started to brush away some of the dust on her shoulder, despite Tori swatting her hands away.

“Quit it! I can do it myself!”

“Clearly you can’t. Stop- just let me-“

“You’re so cold!”

Jade immediately drew back, “fine,” and sat a distance away.

“Jade…”

“You’re right! I’m taking up your space. Whatever.”

“I didn’t mean-“

A clicking-clunking sound came from Cat’s room.

“Is she using a printer?”

“I forgot to put it all together!”

“Put what together?”

“You’ll seeeeeeee!”

Tori put her head in her hands, sighed, and started brushing away the sawdust on her shirt.

“So,” Jade looked around the room for topics of conversation, “how was being a dog?”

“Pretty cool. I know why they chase squirrels now.”

“Why?”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“No. Dog secrets.”

“Okay, well you have fun with your dog secrets.”

“I will.”

“…So do you remember everything that happened?”

“Yes-“

“Well we’re not talking about it.”

“…Sure… but what about-“

“I got it!” Cat walked into the room with a twister mat, a spinner, and a set of cards.

“What’s that on the spinner?”

“You’ll seeeeeeee…”

Cat laid out the mat, spun the arrow and announced, “right paw blue!”


	7. Chapter 7

After improv twister, where the rules are Cat makes the rules, the three of them settled in to watch a vampire werewolf flick to point out everything wrong with it.

“You don’t fly, at least I don’t,” Jade said, “I can’t turn into a bat either. I want a refund.”

“Have you tried thinking like a bat?” Cat asked.

“No, what does a bat think like?”

“Like, eeeeeeeeeee, eeeeee, you know?”

“I’ll have to try that Cat. Any other tips?”

“Well maybe if you just thought about like, the night and the dark or whatever you’d turn invisible!”

“That one isn’t in the movie though,” Tori added.

“Yeah but what if it was… I think that would be cool.”

“Yeah I think you’re right.”

Tori felt comfortable. After everything she’d been through it was nice to sit back and relax. Not ignoring the real world, just keeping it at arms length. It was nice to sit on Cat’s couch and watch a movie. She’d done it before lots of times, but never with Jade. All the undeath and monster shifting brought them closer together. She wondered if they would have ever reached this stage of friendship without it, and if they did, how long it would have taken.

Cat was easy to get close to, hard to understand. Jade was almost the opposite. Tori picked up on her deal very early on, though she found it hard to put into words. With her wolf senses she almost gets it now, the overprotectiveness, the territoriality, even pushing away those closest to you. She had those impulses too, but they always seemed to even themselves out.

Knowing her deal, at least in the abstract, didn’t make it any easier for Tori to get close. It even seemed to hurt sometimes, when Jade was hurting and only turned to Beck for help. It was hard to be left out, especially if she felt like there was something she could do to help. Instead she had to wait for Jade to ask, for Jade to invite herself over and stay the night, even if it was only once. Friendship went at Jade’s pace, and Tori got that and all, but most of the time found herself wanting to go faster. To get to all of the good stuff without having to endure… whatever Jade decided to throw at her that day.

Maybe waiting was a good thing. It got them this far, didn’t it?

“Was it super cool when you turned into a werewolf?”

Cat’s question snapped her attention away from the movie.

“Huh?”

“Was it like super fun and cool being a cute doggie? I saw you I even got to pet you and you were sooooooooo soft, like super soft and you licked my hand and I thought that was so cute!”

Tori blushed slightly, “well, I’m glad I make a good dog, I guess… anyways, it was kind of cool. I felt totally different and everything got so clear and, simple? I don’t know, it was like getting a whole different perspective. That part was cool.”

Jade rolled her eyes, “no downsides about being a huge monster?”

“No,” Tori pulled her legs closer to her, “turning back was… “

“Sorry, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t-“

“No, I want to.” she took a breath, “turning back was hard. Not physically, but… it was just like watching my feelings get anxious again. It was like… ok you know how you get out of a pair of shoes that are just so totally uncomfortable? It was like watching yourself put them back on knowing that they’re always going to be there, or, you’re always going to put them back on? Actually, forget the shoes, that was stupid.”

“Not stupid,” Cat said, “I got it, I think.”

“Thanks. It’s like… it’s like a really good dream, and I forgot about everything I used to stress about. But then I woke up. Now that I know how it feels to… be myself… it’s hard to go back.”

“Yourself?” Jade asked.

“Yeah. It was like, unfiltered, I wasn’t afraid of what anyone thought and I just wanted the best for myself and everyone around me. Now… I know what that is and I can’t have it.”

“…Sucks.”

Tori looked at Jade, ready to quip back, but it seemed sincere. At least, the look on her face was.

“Yeah. It does suck.”

Jade looked worried, Tori realized. The look on her face brought back memories of that speech she gave her, the one about being afraid. She never talked about what it felt like to be dead, just that it wasn’t the best and super inconvenient. Tori contemplated for a second what dying felt like, and when she shivered in fear she sunk down into it, knowing that Jade must have felt something unimaginable.

Then she stopped because she noticed she was staring.

Jade was staring back, caught between jealousy and empathy. Traditionally, jealousy always won, but now they had something in common, more than just a high school. Part of her regretted being so open, but a significant part of her loved it. She wanted more, more affirmation from her friends and… Tori…

Jade snapped out of her stare when Tori did, refocusing on the movie. Some dude was getting torn apart, fake blood flying.

“What do I taste like?”

Jade nearly choked on her tongue. After a bit of coughing Tori clarified;

“I mean when you bit me, you said my blood was… spicy?”

“No,” Jade cleared her throat, “a kick. It had a kick.”

“What kind of kick?”

“Something like… drinking espresso… or having cold water dumped on your head.”

Tori picked at her fingernails as she said, “just like when you dumped coffee on my-“

“I SAID I was sorry.”

“No… you never did.”

“Well. You got over it didn’t you-“

“Jade!”

“Fine! I’m sorry! It was… I was being stupid.”

“Apology accepted. I’m glad you’re my friend now at least. Can I get you to dump coffee on my enemies?”

Jade laughed, “Sure, just let me know.”

After the movie finished Cat pulled them into a circle on the floor.

“Concentration!” she said, ticking a box off of a check list, “you guys know how to play right?”

“Yeah,” Tori shared a glance with Jade, “when we were like, kids.”

“Come on it’ll be fun!”

“Cat I think we’re a little tired-“

“Just do it!”

Another glance. Jade shrugged.

“Ok I’ll start,” Cat said, cuing them to begin.

“Concentration, sixty four. Category is, anything.”

“I’M GIRLS!” Cat shouted. Before anyone could respond she ran tothe bathroom and locked herself in.

“I’m girls?” Tori shouted back.

“Don’t even worry about it,” Cat said, muffled by the door, “I didn’t finish.”

“Um, okay. You can finish-“

“You have to PROMISE not to be mad.”

Jade nodded like she finally understood. “Cat we won’t be mad.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“What is going on?”

Jade shushed Tori before walking up to the bathroom door.

“I meant to say… I LIKE girls… but I got nervous.”

“I can see that,” Jade chuckled, “but there’s no reason to be scared, ok?”

“But what if there is?”

“Come out,” Jade laughed at her own joke before gently pulling Cat out of the bathroom, “we care about you, we-“ she cringed a little bit before saying “love you.”

Tori stared at the situation before a glare from Jade prompted her. “Yeah, we love you, we’re not mad or anything.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

In a moment frozen in time, Tori looked at both of them. It was like some part of her world had just shattered. She couldn’t place it,

“Hey Cat.”

“Yeah?” she looked up at Jade, who had hauled her into her lap.

Tori looked at them, and wondered what on earth was going on. Jade and Cat… it just seemed like they had an agreement. They were allowed to hug. They were allowed to sit on or next to each other.

Why? Why did Jade let Cat touch her, but would flinch if Tori tried? Especially now. She’s gay! There’s nothing wrong with that it just reminded Tori of all those PE locker room teasings. Don’t look. Don’t stare. Don’t get too close. Don’t get too far either, or they’ll think you’re a lesbian. The word bounced around in her head a bit. Was Cat a lesbian? Did she only like girls? What if she liked her? What would she do? What would it feel like? Tori felt herself stiffen up when she heard Jade say

“I like girls too.”

“What?”

“Deaf, Vega?”

“No, I’m- it’s- nothing!”

She’s not homophobic. She’s not! It’s just that Jade mights look at her and think she’s pretty, what would she do then? And then what if she thought Jade was pretty too? Silly. Best not to think about it.

“Did you ever… like, are you into me?”

“Don’t do that.” Jade said.

“Yeah Tori,” Cat added, smiling, “let’s watch the movie again!”

“I thought you wanted to play concentration?”

“No that was it.”

Getting back on the couch, Cat and Jade settled back into their close almost-cuddle. Tori just couldn’t. She couldn’t stop thinking. It was just normal to like girls more than guys, right? It didn’t have to have a name or anything.

“What do you feel, Cat, when you look at a girl?”

“Hmm?”

“Like, how did you know…”

“Well… I guess I knew when I thought about how pretty they were and I wanted to be close to them all the time and like, I’d brush them on accident and feel like, so many feelings and it just made sense!”

“Hmmmmm.”

HMMMMMM.

“Does anyone know?”

“Yeah. I told Andre and Robbie the other day and Beck seemed really tired so I’m just going to wait till he feels better.”

“Huh. Jade?”

“It’s my business. Beck knows.”

“You’re… broken up?”

“I-“ Jade took a breath, the confused expression dissolving, “I’m bi, Tori.”

“Oh. You still haven’t answered my question.”

“He hasn’t… spoken to me… about it.”

“Oh.”

“Is that all you can say? ‘Oh’?”

“I don’t know what to say!”

“Maybe, I don’t know, ‘it sucks that your boyfriend got possessed and macked on my sister who used her slut magic to make him hate you’?”

“She’s not- hey! Maybe you should-“

“What, Vega?”

“just, shut up! I don’t know how to feel about it either!”

“Your sister bit me! She literally killed me! And now I’m like this and no one wants to get close to me!”

“Stop it!” Cat pushed at both of them, “stop it this is supposed to be a fun sleepover not a free for all. Can’t you just do that for me? Have fun? Just think about fun ponies and put all the bad stuff away!”

“Sorry Cat,” Jade huffed, “not all of us can do that.”


	8. Chapter 8

In Andre’s basement, an unopened journal sat, abandoned at the bottom of a storage bin. This journal contains the only true account of the last living werewolf.

Andre’s grandmother got it from her mentor, who got it from his, who got it from the last known vampire.

In 1824 the Alabaster family bailed a childhood friend out of prison. Dan met him in the woods outside town. They talked about their dreams.

In 1829 Dan experienced his first full moon as a full werewolf. He was welcomed into the pack which had become diminished over the years. Eli attended as a guest. An adopted son, almost.

Eli had been in and out of trouble for years. Dan begged him often to stay away from the Scurge family, whose dealings often ended in death. In order to become fully protected, Eli would have to become a werewolf. The Alabasters shied away from this option, opting instead to keep the affliction within the family. Dan offered to turn him himself.

This offer weighed on their friendship. The town at large took notice as Eli became further and further involved in the Scurge families dealings, and Dan became scarce, choosing to throw himself into studies of science and the occult.

When Dan graduated secondary school, he went abroad against the wishes of both Eli and his family. He worked on a cure. He worked on a prison.

Eli fell further. He had already turned by the time Dan came back.

By the time Dan came back, it was too late.

His family had fled. The moon itself clouded over as the Scurges took over the town, securing vampire kind for generations to come. Eli met him in the woods outside town. By the end of the discussion, the had agreed on a plan.

Eli lured the vampires toward the prison, a metal rod inlaid with dull red gems. Dan began the ritual. The prison draws on the connection between individuals. Death severs the connection superficially, but strong feelings can bridge it. Using his love for Eli, Dan drew away death from the vampire cult.

Those that had lived centuries in their bodies felt them crumble beneath them. Those that lived decades felt themselves stumble with the weight of their stolen time. Eli, only turned a year prior, had the rest of his life ahead of him.

With their leaders fallen before them, the Scurge family gave in. Eli returned to Dan, both exhausted from the ordeal. Dan imbibed his cure: his only chance of turning now came directly from a vampire bite.

The rest of their lives was spent eliminating the remaining vampires, searching for Dan’s family, and fixing the wrongs of an ancient feud.

At the end of his life, Dan buried the prison, and it was forgotten.


	9. Chapter 9

Tori does not enjoy feelings she doesn’t understand. It’s always been a problem, especially moving into Hollywood arts and then immediately wanting to stay there forever, then leave the next minute. Friends came easily to her, well, easily enough. Romantic partners were harder. She rationalized it by thinking she’s just a terrible judge of character. Not a good match, didn’t see he was a jerk, etc. It just never seemed to work out for her.

She never felt much for them. Not like how she felt when Jade said she was into girls. That one moment made her feel more than any boyfriend ever had, and she didn’t like it.

It’s hard, growing up.

She couldn’t sleep much, even after she and Cat played S’monster Smash so Jade could rest. She recorded it on her phone, just so she could fall asleep at night, finally. The feeling of being on Jade’s phone, being something special to her…

It didn’t matter. Jade was going to get back together with Beck. Everything would go back to normal soon.

Normal struck a discordant chord in her. She didn’t want it. She liked being like this; between states, thrust into danger but never too much to handle… and she liked being close to Jade. It was the closest they’d been, ever.

Sure they’d been friends… but that took years of building up trust. One life altering cataclysm later and they were practically inseparable. It was selfish of her, but she really didn’t want this to end.

She fell asleep late at night. Moonbeams traced around the room and into her dreams where the joy of the hunt was in full swing. It wasn’t the catch, she didn’t even get to catch whatever it was, but the running. The between-ness of it, like nothing bad could happen so long as she kept moving.

Cat let them sleep. The scent of bacon woke up Tori, while Jade slept a little longer.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: rape. I choose to add this chapter because it is a serious discussion I wanted to have. I did not feel comfortable implying a character suffering sexual violence without having a serious discussion. Unavoidably I have made mistakes in this chapter on the portrayal of victims of sexual abuse. If you feel comfortable pointing them out, please do so, and I will edit to the best of my ability. If you or someone you know has suffered / is suffering from sexual violence, please call the RAINN hotline, check out their website, and / or reach out to trusted loved ones. You are not alone. 
> 
> https://www.rainn.org  
> https://rainn.org/about-national-sexual-assault-telephone-hotline?_ga=2.37235688.990289411.1596773036-5544599.1596773036  
> 800-565-4673

Whatever the next step is, her friends have to be safe. Since sneaking into Tori’s room in the dead of night was now obsolete, Jade had to find a way to keep tabs on her friends and enemies which required…. check ins.

She did not like them. The check ins. They were extremely painful and hard to slip into normal conversation. Cat is the easiest, she likes to talk about her feelings. Tori is second easiest. Andre’s are awkward but he knows she cares which like, gross, but whatever. Robbie is difficult to talk to normally.

Beck had stopped talking to her entirely.

She had to know… something. He wasn’t safe, obviously. He wasn’t feeling himself, obviously. And they had just broken up… probably. It was hard to talk to him but whenever she worked up the nerve he would just slip away. She didn’t want anyone to fall through the cracks though, so se kept trying.

She stood outside his trailer, gently knocking on the door and asking if it was ok to come in. The role reversal was jarring. Usually he would be comforting her, teasing her insecurities out bit by bit whether she liked it or not. She wasn’t used to this.

A lock slid open just as she was about to give up. “Beck?” No response.

Normally she would barge in, but it just seemed like things were different now.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she spotted Beck curled up on his bed, watching something on his computer. She couldn’t make out what it was before he closed it.

“How’re you doing?”

Nothing.

“Can I sit?” Jade asked, motioning to the side of the bed.

Beck nodded.

He was normally so… comfortable. The only person she knew who was really comfortable about who they were and who they choose to be. Now he looked… small. Out of place. Alone.

They sat in silence for a bit, Jade borrowing the trick from the many afternoons Beck sat with her when she was upset. She didn’t like this. Beck was… Beck, he was supposed to be solid, collected, cool. She snapped out of her thoughts when Beck said

“You’re so far away from me.”

“Should I move closer?”

“No,” Beck said, pulling farther into the blankets.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t want to,” Beck took a breath, “I think I need to.”

“Okay, I’m all ears.”

“I think it’s not okay. Even though there was magic or a secret potion or whatever I think that doesn’t change the fact that… I didn’t want it. I was- I felt unconscious for weeks, or a week. I didn’t want it, that means it’s rape, right?”

Jade had to push down a protective swell of anger just to hold her voice steady for Beck, “yeah.”

“She didn’t- I don’t want to make excuses. I feel like, it’s not my body any more. Like it’s not me. I don’t feel in control and I don’t feel safe anymore, anywhere.”

“I’ll protect you-“

“You can’t,” he chuckled weakly, “not like this. Not this time. I can’t- I can’t belong to anyone right now, when I don’t even belong to myself. Sorry, I can’t be with you now. You can just leave, if that’s what you want.”

Jade felt her eyes tearing up, “That was all to tell me why you can’t date right now? You deserve more that that, you know that, right?”

She didn’t wait for an answer before continuing.

“You’re- you were my rock for so long, even before we started dating. I mean, you know all the shit I’ve been through. All of it. I’m sticking by you, ok? You need- actually, I don’t know what you need. Tell me what you need, I’ll be here. That’s a promise.”

After a moment of silence Jade spoke up again.

“I spoke over you a bit, actually. Do you… have anything more to say? Stuff you want to get out?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ok.”

“I guess… you know how you felt, when you were bitten?”

“You know?”

“Tori talked to me a few days ago. Apologized for what Trina did. It got me thinking.”

“I see.”

“I don’t… know how to feel about the apology. It mostly was her saying it was awful and shouldn’t have happened. She apologized for not stopping it, but I guess she eventually did. Anyways, she said you felt… like something had been taken away from you. Like you were a whole other person. That you felt scared and out of control. It’s… not the same, I know. But that’s a little bit of how I’m feeling, if you wanted a check in.”

“I did. I do, I want to know how you’re doing. I want to help or just… I know from personal experience, and I guess so do you, that I can’t understand. It makes me pissed I’m going to be honest. I want to protect you and I can’t. I didn’t. I’m just… here. And you’re not alone. Unless you want to be then I’ll get out of here.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you want to talk to Lane about it? He’s supposed to be a councilor, maybe he could help.”

“Maybe.”

“No pressure, of course. Do you… want a hug?”

“No thanks.”

“Do you want me to stay here with you?”

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

Tori’s had no choice but to think about Jade often. Ever since the sleepover… every touch, every look, it’s been supercharged. It was an eye opener, like, this could happen? It could happen to her? To her friends and… between friends?

Jade liked Cat, obviously. She was so protective of her. Even in her dreams she would chase cats around the neighborhood, barking like crazy just to regain her turf. Not like Jade was her turf!

Ugh. Being a teenager was hard enough already. Now she had to think about all her boyfriends. How she never felt anything half as intense as the night she saw Jade in her bedroom. She was… unhinged… she could tell something was wrong and all she wanted to do was pull her into her arms, curl up under the covers and wait for it all to be over. A little late for that, now.

Every touch was supercharged. Every look pointed. Every memory… it was easy to get lost in them, to say the least.

It was her habit to deal with turmoil quietly, but it was so hard! She couldn’t talk to her friends, they’re too involved. Trina, maybe when she’s not going out every night and probably eating people. Her parents… bleh.

… Lane?

She slammed the door to his office, “Girls!”

Lane sat back in his wicker chair, lotion mid-rub.

“Okay…”

“I’m- they’re looking… nice, and I-“

“Tori, Tori,” he put a hand on her shoulder, guided her to the councilors couch, “whatever it is, it’s ok. Lots of students are gay-“

“I’m not gay!”

“Okay-“

“Well maybe I am,”

“Okay—“

“No I’m not!”

“Do you want some lotion?”

“No- wait what kind is it?”

“Lavender, calming.”

“Give me a squirt.”

After a breath Lane pulled out a yearbook.

“Look at that, that’s me.”

“Woah, your hair was so…” a squint from Lane made her change track, “cool!”

“I was having the same problem you’re having now-“

“Oh my god everyone’s gay!”

“I- please let me finish.”

“Sorry.”

“Right,” he flipped a few pages, “isn’t this boy cute?”

“I guess…”

“I thought so. And it really scared me. It’s hard to feel something no one ever prepared you for, isn’t that right?”

She nodded, “yeah…”

“Yeah. But it’s okay. You’re not a scary monster for feeling these things.”

“Uh…”

Besides the fact that she is a scary monster, sometimes, the story made her feel a bit better. It just seemed like her friends had it all figured out, they were so confident, and they just knew.

“How do you know?”

“You know,” Lane smiled, “it just comes to you.”

Tori sat in the silence for a bit longer. Maybe it would make her feel better to tell some of her friends. Come out. They probably wouldn’t be mad. They’d be fine. Why was she so nervous then?

Maybe one at a time. She’d tell Andre first, then she’d figure it out from there.

“Thanks Lane.”

“Any time.”


	12. Chapter 12

Jade had gotten into the habit of taking long walks at dusk. On the surface it was about patrolling; checking for other vampires. It just happened to be a good way of working out all the restless energy she had. She’d always felt more awake at night, but with her affliction the urge to wander had become unbearable. So she walked.

In the back of her mind was the vampire from Andre’s video, always playing, over and over. On a deeper level was the urge to search for prey. She suppressed the latter. The blood from Cat’s brother kept her sated enough, even if she couldn’t get biting Tori out of her mind. She had just felt so… powerful. Complete.

It’s not like she’d loose control and bite her again. Couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it.

It’s not like she ended up near the Vega’s house for a reason, night after night. Like she circled the house waiting… just to check in. Just to make sure everyone was safe. She groaned and held her face in one hand, safe from who?

It’s not like Beck was being helpful, and it’s not like Jade was in a position to push him any further. They took care of one threat, even though it wasn’t how she wanted. The only antagonist left was Beck’s mysterious assailants and the vampire on Andre’s video, who hadn’t shown their face since.

She couldn’t stop pacing.

Tori had never caught her, except for those times she wanted to be caught, and even then she slept so soundly. It was…

It was creepy. She did NOT want to eat her best friend.

She couldn’t help but gag at the thought. ‘best friend’, what was she, five?

Her thoughts stopped as she spotted some movement. Squirrels. She shouldn’t’ve been so startled by nothing. With that thought she started towards a nearby park to clear her head.

She saw Tori there, sitting on a bench and watching something like her life depended on it. After craning her head around she found out what it was. Squirrels.

At least she wasn’t the only one with new habits.

She watched the girl who watched the squirrels for a while, not sure if it was appropriate to interrupt. On one hand, this was stupid. On the other, it was really, really cute. Not like she’d ever say that.

Definitely not after Tori freaked out about the gay stuff. It was strange, Jade had been confident in her identity for so long, she kind of forgot that some people… weren’t ok with with the way she was. Again, she wouldn’t ever admit it, but Tori’s outburst had kind of… hurt her feelings. Cat didn’t seem bothered somehow but she was probably ready for some pushback. It was odd.

Beck reacted similarly if she was telling the truth. It didn’t bother her so much back then. He was just being stupid. It mattered more, somehow, if it was Tori. They’d become really close, not really by choice but, Tori was there for her. Then she wasn’t. Then she was all freaked out, and over nothing. As much as she hated to admit it she didn’t want to scare Tori away.

At first she did. She really did. And it worked with everyone else too, but not her. Tori would keep pressing, no matter what. It was annoying. That was it.

Jade couldn’t suppress a smile, though, when Tori fully tensed up and strained to keep seated.

Why her? Why did Jade show up in her window, and no body else's, the first night she turned? Why did instinct lead her to the Vega house, when every other sense told her to get as far as possible?

The answer certainly wasn’t in her stupid face, or the way she always barged in on her moping. It wasn’t how Tori could sense a problem, and wouldn’t fucking give up even when it would be better for both of them. It wasn’t how she remembered one day at the end of school, the sunlight streaming on her face, and as she went to unlock her car Tori showed up pleading for a ride, and Jade just couldn’t say no. So they drove. And Jade couldn’t think of anything mean to say that hadn’t already been said and properly defanged, so she didn’t say anything at all, and Tori wouldn’t shut up about who can remember now.

It wasn’t how she felt warm that day, and not just from the sun, but the fleeting contact they shared over the console, hand on hand, that left her skin buzzing and her head dizzy.

No. It wasn’t that at all.


	13. Chapter 13

Eventually Jade sat on the bench with Tori. She started, but relaxed quickly.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

After a beat of silence, Jade asked, “squirrels?”

“I- look I tried not to chase them, okay?”

“I could tell.”

“Ugh,” Tori slid down on the bench, “it’s super weird, okay! I know, but it’s easier than trying to ignore it at this point.”

“I never said it was wierd.”

“It was implied.”

“Yeah it was.”

Tori hit Jade’s arm as she smiled again, “it’s not funny!”

“I think it’s extremely funny.”

Summoning all her dramatic experience she huffed, “well!”

“Lighten up. any other… dog symptoms?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why not?”

“You’d laugh.”

“You’re right.”

Tori’s look of fake exasperation quickly faded as she looked at her phone.

“Have you seen Cat lately?”

“Of course, she… no, that was… how long has it been since you saw her?”

“Two days.”

Jade took out her phone. No annoying good night texts.

“I thought she was just…”

“Me too.”

“Want to look for her?”

“Yep.”

As the got up Tori asked, “did you drive here?”

“No. Walked.”

“Your house is like three miles away!”

“So I’m not allowed to walk anymore?”

“What?”

A buzz. Both girls checked their phones.

“Not me,” Jade said, “you?”

“Yeah.”

“Who?”

“Beck.”

Jade raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t be jealous.”

“Who said I was jealous?”

“Whatever…

“Well what did he say?”

“That he hasn’t seen Cat either.”

“Oh. Last time I saw her… it was the end of the school day.”

“Me too. Same with Beck.”

“Did she get home ok?”

“Not sure.”

When Tori got to her house she motioned Jade to stay outside. After a moment she came out with a set of car keys.

“Do your parents know you’re stealing their car?”

“No.”

“Huh,” Jade watched as Tori held open the driver’s side door, “what?”

“I still can’t drive!”

“Right. When were you going to get around to that?”

“Focus!”

“Fine!”

The Vega’s family car was a stick shift, which she wasn’t super familiar with. Beck taught her well enough but it didn’t stop her from grinding the gears a few times. Especially pulling out of the parking lot.

“I’m the one who can’t drive?”

“Shut UP!”

They sped around to Cat’s house, radio off. When they got there, Cat’s brother was waiting in the driveway.

“Wait here,” Jade said, and before waiting for a response left the car.

Tori watched as Jade walked up to Cat’s brother. Devin? Kevin? Whatever. He held out a little baggie of… was that blood? Jade took it and handed him something in return. Cash. She drank the blood and stopped cold.

After a quick exchange Jade hauled him up by the shirt collar. He said something under his breath, and after a quick look to the side Jade put him down. Then she went into the house.

Inside, she started toward the little hide-holes Cat liked to use when there was thunder or someone played pirates with her. Jade was fairly familiar with them, especially after so many “emergency” calls at like three in the morning.

The one in her room was empty. So was the one in the hall closet. Jade checked her extra-special-secret-private hide-hole, nothing.

It was a little room, hidden away in a secret door. It was covered floor to celling in blankets and fairy lights. It smelled like Cat. How could she have let this happen?

Turning to go, her elbow hit something hard behind a blanket. Lifting it up revealed a wall of pictures, printed out text messages, and maps tacked together with string. Classic conspiracy board. She snapped some pictures and left, wanting to get on Cat’s trail as soon as possible.

Before exiting, she caught a glance of Tori through the glass door. She was frantically motioning for her to stay put, and taking a glance to the left she saw why.

Someone not large, but imposing, stood in the driveway talking to Cat’s brother. Getting a closer look, but not too close, Jade could see that it was the vampire from Andre’s video. She was average height, but seemed much taller. Brown hair, light clothes. Party clothes, oddly enough. Jangly jewelry. She seemed familiar, but Jade couldn’t put her finger on it.

The vampire finished up her discussion with Cat’s brother. Passing by, she shot Jade a glance. Jade felt cold. Colder than she already was. Colder than she ever thought possible. She sensed the presence of leathery wings behind both of them, pressing her to take flight. Most of all she felt hungry.

After the vampire left Jade walked to the car, stunned.

“What was that?” Tori asked, getting more ad more concerned as Jade slid into the seat next to her.

“I… don’t know. I could feel…”

“Was it like Trina?”

“Yeah. I could tell…”

“What?”

“That she could absolutely kill me in a fight.”

“Oh.”

She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

“I found this in her panic room,” Jade pulled up the conspiracy board pics.

“Woah…”

“And that was Cat’s blood.”

“WHAT?”

“Some of it. It was mixed in with others but I could tell.”

“You’re sure? You can… taste that?”

“More like smell it but yeah.”

“This is so weird.”

“I know.”

Tori put her fingers to her temples, “so someone has Cat, maybe because she figured something out and didn’t tell any of us, and whoever has her is taking her blood?”

“Sounds about right.”

“Where does he get the blood anyways?”

“I never asked. I don’t think he would tell me.”

“And you’ve been paying for it?”

“Yeah.”

“Like drugs?”

“This isn’t be morally superior to Jade time, okay!”

“Okay! What do we do?”

“I don’t,” Jade sighed, shifting the car into gear, “know, but I think running into things, alone, is what got Cat into this mess.”

“I call you drive?”

“Sounds like a plan.”


	14. Chapter 14

Out of all the things Cat could be, stupid wasn’t one of them. She could be air headed, but she was always on top of it. Jade noticed right away that Cat’s outbursts always ended up lightening, defusing, or drawing the attention of the conversation to herself. It was clear that she understood much more than she let on.

This was abundantly clear in her conspiracy board.

Details that Jade didn’t even remember giving were there; vampire weaknesses, werewolf weaknesses, and the affects of music on both. There were locations, vampires “living” and dead, and a reference to… a prison?

“Yeah I’ve heard of it before,” Andre said, “I’m not sure what it is though.”

“Wouldn’t it be a place?” Tori Asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Well Cat sure was interested in it,” Jade murmured.

Tori started pacing, “how did we loose a person? A person!” Her teeth were starting to elongate,same with her nails.

“Tor?”

“What!”

“You’re kind of, wolfing out.”

“Ugh!”

She didn’t stop pacing. She couldn’t. Not when one of her best friends-

“There’s no way she can take care of herself. She doesn’t even have any magic… stuff!”

Jade bit back the temptation to quip. If she was honest with herself, she was just as panicked as Tori, just better at hiding it.

Tori continued to pace, slowly whittling away at her composure while Andre and Robbie compares notes. Just as Jade worked up the nerve to put a hand on her shoulder, Beck walked over to Tori.

He grabbed her by the shoulders. Jade stiffened.

“Look at me, Tor, look at me.”

Her wolf features flared at the contact, the panic in her eyes betraying exactly how close she got to a full-wolf out.

“We’re going to find her. We’re going to work together. At any cost, okay?”

Jade tamped down the urge to snarl. He’s always been so cheesy. Not like it would work. It would take more than platitudes for-

Her heart dropped as she watched Tori’s fangs retreat. Not like she would ever admit it. Not like it meant anything.


	15. Chapter 15

Jade brushed past her, nearly knocking her into Beck.

“What’s your problem?” Tori asked.

Jade mumbled something about the sun coming up, “don’t let me explode,” and lay down on the couch. Beck rolled his eyes. They had more important things to worry about.

Tori took a breath, willing her werewolf features to settle down. All she wanted was a clear path forward, and now that there wasn’t one… her brain was getting the best of her.

Jade opened her eyes, and for once in her life she felt that all the barriers she had built around herself had disappeared. They were replaced by a vast expanse of gray grass, under a gray sky.

She was dreaming. But it felt… nice. It felt nice not to worry all the time, not to stay vigilant for anyone trying to hurt her. Even the part of herself that was always on alert, no matter what, watching her walls and screaming when they buckled, was quiet. Not gone, just quiet.

She stood in this vast expanse of grass, feeling it scrape along her legs and the tips of her fingers, and she looked up, and as she did she noticed her heart was beating.

It was an irregular rhythm. Like someone was trying to start it again. BU-bum, BU-bum. BU-bum. Like someone was squeezing it inside her chest and she let it happen.

She stood like that for a while, breathing in the cool breeze, feeling the life touch down in her chest and spread to the rest of her. And then came the cavalcade of shame.

She shouldn’t rely on anyone else. Who was pumping her heart? Would they let it fail? Would they let it falter in their hands? Would they crush it? What would they ask of her?

It shouldn’t be like this. She had always been on her own. And all the reasons she liked to be alone came flooding in. She felt the life sap from her hands as the thought ripped through her: not again, not again. She felt the pain of dying, this time in bursts, as she fought to push away whatever had a hand on her. She wouldn’t let them have this power over her. She couldn’t stand it.

She woke up with a start on the Vega’s couch. The others sat around a table drawing on a map of Los Angeles. Tori tapping her foot incessantly, slamming it when she felt like it. An irregular rhythm, like-

“How are you feeling?”

The question caught her off guard, “fine.”

“Okay.”

She rubbed her eyes, walked over to the table.

“This jog your memory?” Beck said, leaning away from the map.

Places, people, faces, names.

“No,” Jade sighed, “are you finally going to tell us who took you like they took-“

“Jade,” Beck grabbed her arms, squeezed, and said, “I can’t.”

“So you’re just-“

“Jade,” his eyes were working overtime, trying to say something he couldn’t, “I. Can’t.”

The realization hit her the same time it hit everybody else, “you can’t…” she thought for a moment, “you can’t tell us what happened… can you tell us what didn’t happen?”

He narrowed his eyes, willing the words to fall out, “I didn’t-“ he grimaced as he tried.

Tori shot up, “charades! Charades! Ok, um, here we go.”

Beck was willing to try. He held up three fingers,

“Three words”

He did a mock Psycho shower sequence,

“Murderer-“

He shook his head, put his hands up to his face in an expression of terror,

“Scary?”

Thumbs up. Two fingers,

“Second word.”

One finger on each hand pantomiming fangs,

“Vampire-“

Thumbs up. three fingers up,

“Third word.”

He put his hands up to his chest,

“Boobs?” Tori asked, trying to imagine what that could mean.

Jade put her face in her hands, “woman.”

“Oh.”

Thumbs up.

Jade jumped up, “did she look- more like feel- tall?” Thumbs up, “Brown hair?” Thumbs up, “Gaudy?” Beck nodded, “Oh my god.”

“What did she do?” Tori asked. Beck tried to speak again before going into another round of charades.

He took a pen, positioned it over his arm, faked a struggle, and pushed it into the skin.

“She like, injected you with something?”

Thumbs up. Two fingers up.

“Second word?” So-so hand gesture, “what happened next,” nod.

He put his hands behind his head, cupped like ears. Then he slid them out of view.

“She… de-wolfed you?” Nod, “Oh my god.”

“So you’re not a werewolf now?”

“As far as I can tell,” Beck smiled as he finally got to speak. He pumped his arm, “yes!”

“… and she cursed you or something so you couldn’t talk about it.” Nod, “ok.”

“Well what does that have to do with Cat?” Robbie asked.

“She was with his brother…” Jade said.

“She gave him some blood,” Tori said with a shiver, “like in a huge gallon jug thing.”

“Well that’s not good.”

“So she’s de-wolfing people, supplying all the local vampires with blood, and she’s the one in Andre’s video…”

“She was probably the first one to turn,” Andre noted, “It mentions something about the source being more potent in here,” he tapped a notebook.

“So,” Robbie started, “she’s the most powerful vampire, probably, she manages all the other vampires by proxy, and she’s extorting them all to boot,” he pulled out a picture of a notebook. Payments recorded in red, someone’s cut in blue.

Tori leaned over to Jade, “where’d you get the money from?”

“I have ways.”

Tori leaned away from Jade, “so……”

Andre cracked his knuckles, “all we have to do now is find her.”


	16. Chapter 16

Cat had a plan. As soon as she escaped from the scary vampire lady she made her way into the rafters, waiting for her shot. She heard a cracking as the door to the abandoned mall plaza opened.

She readied her brick.

“Cat?”

“Jade?” she couldn’t help but squeak out. Oh no, no no no no no…

She saw Jade, along with Tori, Beck, and Andre. As pleased as she was to be rescued by her best friends, this could not have been a worse time to do it. Another door slammed open, and Cat made a frenzied pantomime for them to be quiet.

“What’s she doing?” Beck asked.

“Oh, so that’s where she is,” said a new voice.

Looking over, Beck saw the vampire that jumped him, along with her accomplice.

“Go get her,” the brunet motioned to the blonde, who rolled her eyes in response.

“Are those…” Andre said, more baffled than anything, “those northridge girls who scammed Robbie?”

“Yeah…” Tori said, not really sure what to do anymore.

“So what’s up? You’ve got your,” the brunet vampire motioned to everyone, “whole posse here or whatever? You’re gonna like, stop us or somethng?”

“I mean, that was the plan-“

She cut Andre off, “Whatever. Not going to happen, so like, what do you want, money? Your friend? Are you going to run the scam with us or something?”

“Scam?”

“Yeah where we give people the unlimited power of the undead or something, and they give us tons of cash.”

“Did Trina pay you?”

“No, she’s in the down line, she needs to recruit like, three more vampires or whatever then she’s settled, and then they get more vampires, and whatever it goes on.”

Tori remembered a warning from her parents, “is this a pyramid scheme?”

“Are you a cop?”

At that moment a scream erupted from the rafters. The blonde vampire fell two stories and hit the ground with a sickening thud.

The brunet vampire looked up, “what the hell?”

“Bite me!” Cat yelled, “No wait, don’t bite me!”

“Oh my god,” she put a hand up to her temple, “this fucking sucks. Join or die, or whatever.”

The friends stood for a moment, before a brick hit the ground right next to “What’s your name?” “Bella” Bella.

“You chose die, I guess."


	17. Chapter 17

“What do you think’s at the end of this?”

“What? Life?”

“You know,” Andre gestured around, “this.”

“Very specific,” Tori laughed, “I guess you mean the monster hunting?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, I mean, you said Cat found something?”

“Yeah, she thinks there’s a way to end it.”

“Dramatic.”

“Very.”

She picked at her slice of cake, “so, what is after this?”

“Going back to normal.”

“Hey,” Tori leaned over and smiled, “don’t sound do disappointed!”

“It’s just,” Andre sighed, “this is the most I’ve talked to my grandma in years, at least about something that makes sense. She’s…”

“Insane?”

“A really special lady,” he moved to pick up the plates, “you finished?”

“Yeah.”

“But yeah,” he said, coasting one of the plates over her head,”insane.”

Andre put the plates at the edge of the sink, clattering against all the other plates and forks and glasses. He can’t even see the drain. With another sigh he pulled open the dishwasher.

“You want help?”

“Nah.”

“You sure?”

He looked out at all the plates, and felt how tired he was. “Not sure. Come help, if you want.”

“I do want- to help, I mean.”

“Yeah.”

After a few minutes of scrubbing and drying and stacking, the dishwasher started humming away.

“I think it might be nice,” Tori said, settling down on the couch, “going back to normal. I can focus on school again, get good grades.”

“Like that’s a problem for you?”

“Ha, yeah. I do want to go to college though.”

“Not the pop star track?”

“No, it would be nice but I think a little more… worldly experience would be nice.”

“A world tour could do that for you.”

He laughed.

She laughed as well, “only if you’re coming with me.”

Andre laughed, but his eyes suddenly found the floor, his hand his brow.

“I don’t know.”

“Dude, is it because you think you’re not talented? You’re like, THE most talented person I know, like the most.”

“It’s not that, but I do like to hear you say it.”

“Hey! What is it?”

“It’s… I don’t know. I want to go to college too, just, a local one. Stick around for, you know.”

He motioned to his grandma’s bedroom.

“Hey, I’m sure someone could take care of her.”

“No. It’s just me.”

“Really?”

“Well… my aunt comes by sometimes, and she said she’d stay but it really, I really feel like I’m on my own.”

“Your mom? Dad?”

“Nah. They don’t take care of her.”

“Maybe they would, if you asked.”

“Maybe,” he let out a big sigh, “I’d hate for, forget it.”

“What?”

“You don’t, it’s not your problem, Tori.”

“Maybe not, but I want to be here for you.”

“She doesn’t recognize my aunt anymore, since she’s been coming around less. If I left… what if she didn’t recognize me when I got back? What if something happened? What if there’s something only I can fix because… then I wouldn’t be around.”

“Wow,” they sat in silence for a bit, and then, “that’s really hard.”

“It is.”

“It’s hard.”

“Yeah.”

“I-“

“If you say it’s hard again-“

“No! No, I mean, have you told anyone else about this? That you’re this worried?”

“Well… no.”

“Well, what if it’s okay? What if you leave and it’s okay? What if you got your family on a rotation and they helped your grandma and you came home every other week? Or something like that. I kind of- give me a sec.”

Tori sat back and put her fingers together, composing her words.

“It’s like, what if’s are always really bad but what if they were good? Or just okay? Most things aren’t disasters and like, what if it was fine, that you left, and what if you did a world tour and played all your music and, AND were able to keep this wonderful relationship with your grandma! What if that happened? What if things were okay, and if they weren’t, I’d be here for you, and your friends would be here for you, and…”

“That would be nice,” Andre said, smiling, “it would be really nice, Tor.”

“And it’s hard, but… what if that didn’t have to hold you back?”

“You can stop speech-ing now.”

“Ok good.”

“Hey… when’s the last time you’ve actually herd from Cat?”

—————————

Tori, battered and bruised, held on with all her might to the free arm of the threatening vampire. The other arm was engaged with Andre. She threw a punch, and Andre shoulted out to Robbie: “Tactics!” “Right!”

Robbie ducked under Andre, and caught the punch with a small bear trap.

“SERIOUSLY? WHAT THE FUCK!”

Bella the vampire swung her bear-trapped fist at Robbie, clocking him in the head.


End file.
